Manitoba’s Filmon government tried last week to take a second cut of political hay from an already harvested field, said NDP MLA Rosann Wowchuk.
The government issued a news release March 31 stating that it will spend $3 million to help train workers for the Maple Leaf plant under construction at Brandon, Man. Media were invited to a news conference at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, where premier Gary Filmon revealed details of the spending.
But the funding is nothing new, said Wowchuk, Swan River MLA. The $3 million was announced at least a year ago, after the province agreed to help train workers in exchange for Maple Leaf locating in Manitoba.
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With a provincial election expected this year, Wowchuk said the Tory spin doctors probably scrounged through their archives for something that could make an impression at the Winter Fair, held last week in Brandon.
The money will be used to provide on-the-job training at the $112 million plant.
Expected to start production this summer, the Maple Leaf plant will employ about 1,150 people in its first shift. More than a thousand jobs will be added once a second shift begins.
