Manitobans Promised Hydro Rate Freeze, More Grocery Store Competition in Throne Speech

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew speaks at an event in Winnipeg, Man., on Jan. 18, 2024. The Canadian Press/John Woods

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says his government will freeze rates at Manitoba Hydro for one year to make life more affordable.

He also pledged to eliminate “restrictive” contracts that prevent grocery stores from being built in close proximity to one another.

Kinew made the comments during a Nov. 19 news conference prior to his throne speech being delivered in the Legislature by Lt.-Gov. Anita Neville.

During the election campaign the NDP promised to freeze hydro rates for one year starting in 2025. Kinew noted the Public Utilities Board (PUB) will still have the final say, but said he was confident PUB would freeze the rates.

“Manitoba Hydro exists to save people money. The most important thing to do is to have affordable electricity rates,” Kinew told reporters. “A switch to a climate-friendly economy in the future only happens when you can afford to electrify transportation and businesses can afford to electrify their heating costs.”

Electricity rates have increased in Manitoba over the past two years, including a 3.6 percent jump in 2021, according to an August 2023 news release by the provincial Public Utilities Board (PUB).

PUB approved another increase in electricity rates for August of that year of 1.4 percent. There was an additional 1.4 percent increase in April of 2024.

Grocery Store Competition

The premier said his government would also be looking at banning “restrictive covenants” to increase competition for grocery stores as a way to tackle high food prices. A restrictive covenant is a clause added to a contract to control how property is used.

“The idea behind going after restrictive covenants is to end the practice of large businesses freezing up competition from their geographic area where competition has a downward pressure on prices, and that’s what we’re trying to encourage here,” Kinew told reporters at the news conference.

A commercial development contract in any Manitoba community could include a restrictive covenant that prohibits the establishment of additional grocery stores in the area, he said.

“We want to prevent that situation from happening. We want there to be more competition. We want grocery prices to come down because of that competition.”

Kinew said that there would be an opportunity during the legislative process for residents, producers, the agriculture sector, and other stakeholders to weigh in.

Canada’s Competition Bureau announced last month it was investigating the practice of restrictive covenants’ impacts on grocery store development.

Kinew’s throne speech promises follow his government’s gas tax cut extension until Dec. 31.

“Since we cut the gas tax in January, inflation has gone down in Manitoba,” Kinew said in a Sept. 25 government news release. “This is what governments are for. We know Manitobans are still struggling with the impact of interest rates and grocery prices so we’re going to continue to step up and save you 14 cents at the pump.”

Health Care 

On health care, the throne speech also commits to opening 102 new staffed health-care beds and to develop a new strategy to reduce emergency room wait times and increase surgical capacity.

“We have opened 201 new fully staffed beds in Winnipeg, Selkirk, Brandon and Dauphin since April. We will open another 102 in the next year,” said the speech.

Kinew also said his government would aim to bring more internationally educated health-care workers to the province by expediting the nursing re-entry program.