The province's healthcare system was the big talking point at a pre-budget consultation meeting Friday in Carman. Healthcare eats up nearly 40 percent of the province's budget and belt-tightening has already started to happen as the government looks to further reign in spending.
    
Midland MLA Blaine Pedersen said people are concerned.

"I think there is a public acceptance that it's not sustainable the way it's going, however, you get into a lot of different ideas of what's touchable, what's not touchable in terms of healthcare."

He fully expects that government will get some good ideas from the public on how to tackle the issue, even feedback on solutions already brought-up by the government, and cites the proposed healthcare premiums as an example.

"A lot of people are saying 'no' to healthcare premiums, others are saying 'yes'."

Pedersen added that each Progressive Conservative MLA is holding these meetings across Manitoba, noting the whole purpose is to help the government make good decisions based on what Manitobans are saying.

"It's true democracy to hear from the people and try to pull in all those great ideas and implement them."

Another topic of discussion at Friday's town hall was the Education Farmland Tax and Pedersen said this is something that's coming up at meetings across rural Manitoba. He did note that this concern is justified.

"The assessment is out of proportion on farmland versus urban residents and businesses, and we need to come up with a much better system - a more fair system - and it's under review," said Pedersen.

He admitted that it is difficult to make quick changes in this area but emphasized that government is hearing taxpayer concerns.

Pedersen, who also serves as Manitoba's Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister, also outlined his concerns over the federal government's plan to legalize marijuana by July 1, 2018, and the impact it will have on international trade. He said having the substance legal in Canada while remaining illegal, for the most part, in the United States, could pose some problems.

"We know that the U.S. is spoiling for a trade war, are they going to use this as a trade irritant?", asked Pedersen, noting the NAFTA renegotiations that are currently underway between Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.

He added that the federal government's fast track to legalize pot by next summer hasn't been well thought out. "We have not asked for 'Do not make it legal,' what we've asked for is to delay the implementation so that we can answer these questions."

Meantime, Pedersen encourages constituents to offer further feedback by filling out an online survey issued by the PC government. It's called Manitobans Making Choices. As of interview time, he says over 13,000 questionnaires had been submitted.