Manitoba axes, shrinks 25 government-appointed boards

The Manitoba government is shrinking and cutting a number of provincially appointed boards to streamline how they operate and save taxpayers $150,000, provincial Growth and Enterprise Minister Blaine Pederson says.

"We believe smaller boards and councils work better together, and are more engaged in both the process and outcomes," Pederson said in a statement Monday.

"In creating smaller boards, we are following the best practices of the not-for-profit and private sectors."

Pederson tabled the Boards, Committees, Councils and Commissions Streamlining Act Monday. The act aims to consolidate boards to improve how they function through a series of amendments to other acts, he said.

In total, 170 government-appointed positions across 25 boards will be dissolved in an effort the province says will save it $150,000 per year.

Twelve boards are being turfed altogether (full list at bottom), including the advisory council on workplace health and safety, the council on aging and the restorative justice advisory council.

Eleven boards and commissions will be restructured and the number of members who sit on them whittled down. Boards at Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation, Manitoba Arts Council, Manitoba Film and Music, the Centre culturel franco-manitobain and the Manitoba Human Rights Commission will all be reduced, among others.

CancerCare Manitoba and the Manitoba Film and Sound Recording Development Corporation will see their respective memberships decrease, too. Veterinary services boards in Manitoba will no longer contain ministerial appointments and will also be reduced in size.

Several boards will also merge with the changes. A single committee will now provide advice on issues under both the Ecological Reserves Act and the Endangered Species and Ecosystems Act; the Manitoba Milk Prices Review Commission is gone, its responsibilities to be taken over by the Manitoba Farm Products Marketing Council.

In addition to the cuts to boards, the legislation includes an amendment to the Executive Government Organization Act. That change would give ministers with cabinet support the power to name their own advisory committee on a host of specific issues for up to two years.

The following boards are being eliminated:

• Advisory Council on Workplace Health and Safety.
• Advisory Council on Workforce Development.
• Manitoba Council on Aging.
• Manitoba Restorative Justice Advisory Council.
• Caregiver Advisory Committee.   
• Advanced Education Advisory Committee.
• Building Standards Board.
• Agri-Food and Rural Development Council.
• Heritage Tree Review Committee.
• Certified Occupations Board.
• Cooperative Promotion Board.
• Technical Safety Advisory Council.

Boards, commissions and councils being reduced:

• Accessibility Advisory Council.
• Addictions Foundation of Manitoba.
• Manitoba Arts Council.
• CancerCare Manitoba
• Centre culturel franco-manitobain.
• Manitoba Film & Sound Recording Development Corporation (Manitoba Film & Music).
• Provincial Healthy Child Advisory Committee.
• Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation.
• Manitoba Human Rights Commission.
• Veterinary service boards in Manitoba.

Boards, councils being merged:

• ​Manitoba Milk Prices Review Commission merges with Manitoba Farm Products Marketing Council.
• Previous committees under Endangered Species and Ecosystems Act and the Ecological Reserves Act are to amalgamate.