Mr. Speaker, time and again business owners, community groups and first nations have demanded respectful consultations from the government. In Lockport, Manitoba, in my riding, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement made the unilateral decision to move forward with repairs to the St. Andrews Lock and Dam with little to no consultations with local government, businesses or the community.
In fact, my office reached out repeatedly to the minister and the minister's office for a month requesting a departmental briefing, but they would not even pick up the phone to give me a call. Instead, my office received a short description of the asset and a summary of ongoing work onsite. It was 600 words. That is all the government thinks Manitobans deserve: 600 words. This is an insult to me as an elected representative and the thousands of Manitobans who are directly impacted by this callous top-down approach.
The Liberal government needs to remember that its members work for Canadians, not the other way around. They should quit acting like dictators and just pick up the phone.