PC Park Plate Initiative Re-announced, Hijacked by Kinew After Needless Two-Year Delay
SHOAL LAKE — After nearly two years of delaying progress on PC legislation to establish specialty Manitoba parks licence plates, Premier Wab Kinew has re-announced the initiative as his own, scrapped a locally-submitted design, and launched a survey to choose a new bureaucrat-created design.
The Drivers and Vehicles Amendment Act (Manitoba Parks Licence Plates) was introduced by Riding Mountain MLA Greg Nesbitt, PC Critic for Environment, in April 2024 to establish specialty licence plates that allow Manitobans to show their love for provincial parks while also helping to revitalize them.
“Every step of the way I’ve tried to be collaborative with the NDP government to create a licence plate that truly captures Manitoba’s beloved natural heritage,” said Nesbitt. “I immediately began working with stakeholders and the public to launch the new plates in time for the 2025 camping and summer tourism season. The only hurdle I encountered was the NDP, who delayed the project for 2 years just to redo work that’s been done for the sake of putting an NDP stamp on it. It’s a redundant use of taxpayer dollars.”
Upon passing the bill in June 2024, Progressive Conservatives worked in partnership with The Winnipeg Foundation to ensure that the proceeds from plate sales would go into the Provincial Parks Endowment Funds. The funds, created by the previous PC government in 2021, support Manitobans wanting to give back to provincial parks through philanthropic donations and legacy gifts.
After Manitoba Public Insurance informed Nesbitt that they did not have the resources to design a specialty plate, PC Caucus invited Manitobans to submit their designs. Over 70 local designs were received from across the province in various mediums, including photography, paintings, illustrations, and graphic designs. The final design, a wildlife photo, was chosen from a shortlist with the help of the Manitoba Provincial Parks Cabin Owners Association. PCs then worked with MPI to ensure proper formatting.
NDP Environment Minister Mike Moyes, his predecessor Tracy Schmidt, their deputy minister, and Manitoba’s Director of Parks all respectively rejected Nesbitt’s requests to participate in design discussions and stakeholder outreach.
On Monday, the Kinew government launched an (American-based) EngageMB survey for Manitobans to vote for one of five designs, none of which are from the seven dozen designs submitted by Manitobans.
“I made several efforts early on to engage and involve both the minister’s office and the Parks department in this process,” said Nesbitt. “Those offers were declined, the project was kept in limbo for over a year, and now we can see why. Premier Kinew’s habit of wasting taxpayer dollars just to take the spotlight is completely shameless.”
When asked about the delay in question period last week, Moyes completely dismissed the value of the specialty plates, stating, “I know that the parks plate is the most pressing issue in our environment. Actually, no, I’ve never heard that from any environmental group, anywhere, or any Manitoban.”
The new licence plate is now expected to be made available in 2027, two years later than anticipated.
“My goal was always to keep this initiative non-partisan. This was an opportunity to show Manitobans that Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats are able to work cooperatively,” said Nesbitt. “Given my role in initiating and advancing this project, the lack of transparency or integrity from the NDP is disappointing.”
Provided are drafts of the “winning” local design which was under development by PC Caucus staff and MPI to follow legislative requirements and prepare the process for the plate manufacturer.
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For media inquiries, please contact PCCaucus_Media@strongermanitoba.ca