Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure (French: Transportation Infrastructure Manitoba), commonly known as Manitoba Infrastructure (French: Infrastructures du Manitoba), is the provincial government department responsible for managing infrastructure in Manitoba. It is in charge of "the development of transportation policy and legislation, and [of] the management of the province’s vast infrastructure network."
Manitoba Infrastructure was initially known as Public Works, which changed to Government Services in 1968, when the province expanded the department to include the provision of common services for other governmental departments. In 2016, the department name would be changed to its current one.
The department operates under the oversight of the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure (Ministre des Transports et de l’Infrastructure), currently Lisa Naylor, who was appointed to the portfolio on 18 October 2023 by the New Democratic government of Wab Kinew.
Contents
Organization
Manitoba Infrastructure oversees the provision of such services as property management, procurement, water bomber operations, air ambulance flights, fleet vehicles, stewardship of Crown Lands, and the security of provincial government buildings.
Duties of the department related to transportation include corporate policy, provincial legislation development, enforcement of motor carrier safety and regulation, carrier permits, and the management of sustainable transportation initiatives.
Regarding water control, drainage, and management of transportation infrastructure, responsibilities of the department include the construction, maintenance, and operation of: 19,000 kilometres (12,000 mi) of all-weather roads, 2,200 km (1,400 mi) of winter roads, and 4,700 km (2,900 mi) of drains; as well as 75 dams, 61 reservoirs, 41 pumping stations, 24 northern airports, and more than 21,000 bridges and culverts, among others.
Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure includes the following agencies and boards:
CentrePort Canada
Disaster Assistance Appeal Board
Land Value Appraisal Commission
Licence Suspension Appeal Board
Medical Review Committee
History
Public Works (1871–1967)
In the beginning, the Minister of Agriculture was ex officio the minister responsible for public works. The first Minister of Public Works and Agriculture was appointed by the Lieutenant Governor on 13 January 1871, as a member of Manitoba's Executive Council, established after the first elections in the newly-established province of Manitoba. This new portfolio would carry out the responsibilities of the Board of Public Works and the Committee of Economy from the defunct Council of Assiniboia, as well as the responsibility of overseeing the provincial government's involvement in the development and maintenance of roads, bridges, ferries, and related services.
In 1874, following the division of the Department of Public Works and Agriculture's functions into two separate departments—and the resignation of Edward Hay as minister—the Department of Public Works was established. This new department was responsible for directing all construction, maintenance and repair for all public works of the Province of Manitoba.
In its initial years, the department was primarily concerned with the construction of provincial roads and government facilities. However, in the late 19th century, as Manitoba's population increased significantly, the Department of Public Works became increasingly important in providing services to new arrivals. As Manitoba grew into the modern era, drainage projects, bridges, and culverts also became increasingly necessary. The department would also begin to take on other public works projects, including the drilling of wells; expanding the highways system; building government buildings/institutions and offices; and constructing schools and grain elevators. Such would also eventually include the management of the Legislative Building, the Law Courts and Land Titles Buildings, the provincial prison in Headingly, the Hospitals for Mental Diseases in Brandon and Selkirk, the Manitoba School for the Deaf, and various other facilities.
In 1930, the Highway Traffic Act was passed. Between the 1940s and 1950s, the department put its primary attention towards expanding and maintaining provincial highways, as well as towards the ongoing management and maintenance of government spaces. This increasing concern over highways and roads resulted in the creation of the Highways Branch. With the passage of the Public Works Act in 1943, the Highways Branch of the department was formed, under which all functions related to the planning, design, construction and maintenance of Manitoba highways, roads, and bridges were amalgamated and transferred to.
Division into two ministries (1965–99)
A new Public Works Act and Highway Traffic Act were passed in 1965, resulting in considerable changes to the department's structure. Most notably, Public Works was divided into two separate departments: the Departments of Public Works and of Highways, though both would continue to share a single ministry.
The Department of Highways was created out of Public Works' former Highways Branch as an independent department. This new Department continued the role it previously had under Public Works, overseeing the construction and maintenance of Manitoba's road and highway system. Also part of the 1965 Act, the functions related to the acquisition of land for use in provincial works projects were consolidated within the Land Acquisition Branch and the Land Acquisition Commission.
In 1968–69, the government of Walter Weir further expanded the role of the Public Works department to provide common services needed by all departments, including the "design, construction, acquisition. and maintenance of government buildings and property; the procurement and maintenance of government vehicles and equipment; and the delivery of postal, printing and information services to the government."
To signal the change in its operation, the department was intended to be renamed the Government Services; however, the name change would not be affirmed by the legislature, and the department continued to operate as Public Works until 1978.
At the same time, the Minister of Highways was renamed Minister of Transportation. This name was kept by the NDP administration of Edward Schreyer, who assigned Joseph Borowski to the role in 1969, while changing the "Minister of Public Works" to the "Minister of Government Services" with the appointment of Howard Pawley.
In 1970, the functions of the Motor Vehicle Branch, held by the Minister of Public Utilities, was transferred to the Highways minister's portfolio, which included responsibility for the facilitation of road safety and the administration of programs like driver's education. Later that year, the Department of Highways was formally consolidated with Public Works to create the Department of Public Works and Highways. Nonetheless, both Public Works and Highways continued to operate as independent departments until they were officially separated and restructured in 1977/78.
Reconsolidation (1999–present)
In 1999, the incoming government of Gary Doer combined the Departments of Government Services and of Highways and Transportation into a single portfolio: Manitoba Highways and Government Services.
In January 2001, while the department formally changed to Transportation and Government Services, both the Government Services section and the Highways & Transportation continued to operate as individual entities.
The Highways & Transportation section carried out its mandate through 4 key divisions:
Policy, Planning and Development — policy, planning, design and development of the transportation infrastructure in Manitoba;
Construction and Maintenance — construction and maintenance of provincial highways, bridges, and structures
Engineering and Technical Services — planning and technical support for highway construction in Manitoba; and
Driver and Vehicle Licensing — regulating transportation via driver licensing, vehicle registration, etc.
The Highways & Transportation section was also in charge of administering the Motor Transport Board, the Highway Traffic Board, the Taxicab Board, the License Suspension Appeal Board, and the Medical Review Committee. In addition to the provision of various support services, Government Services was also responsible for the Land Value Appraisal Commission, the Manitoba Disaster Assistance Appeals Board, and the Manitoba Emergency Measures Organization (MEMO).
In 2006, the department would be restructured and renamed once again, this time into Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation. A decade later, in 2016, the name was shortened to the Department of Infrastructure by the incoming government of Brian Pallister, and has retained that name since.
Minister of Infrastructure
The Minister of Infrastructure (French: Ministre de l'Infrastructure) is the cabinet position in the government of Manitoba charged with oversight of the province's Department of Infrastructure.
The current Minister of Infrastructure is Lisa Naylor, who was appointed to the portfolio on 18 Oct 2023 by the New Democratic government of Wab Kinew.
Between 1871 and 1967, the portfolio (then titled Minister of Public Works) held oversight over roads and government buildings. Between 1967 and 1999, the portfolio was divided into two positions: Minister of Public Works and the Minister of Highways, both remaining distinct through various administrations and name changes. On occasion, both portfolios were held by the same individual at the same time. In 1999, the two ministries were once again united.
Minister history
In the beginning, the Minister of Agriculture was ex officio the minister responsible for public works. The first Minister of Public Works and Agriculture was appointed by the Lieutenant Governor on 13 January 1871, as a member of Manitoba's Executive Council, established after the first elections in the newly-established province of Manitoba.
The portfolio would carry out the responsibilities of the Board of Public Works from the defunct Council of Assiniboia, and the minister was responsible for overseeing the Manitoba government's involvement in the development and maintenance of roads, bridges, ferries, and related services. Manitoba's first Minister of Public Works and Agriculture was Thomas Howard, who resigned from the position after only ten days in order to exchange portfolios with Provincial Secretary Alfred Boyd.
In December 1874, the ministry was divided, creating a separate Minister of Public Works and a Minister of Agriculture.
In the late 19th century, as Manitoba's population increased significantly, the Department of Public Works became increasingly important in providing services to new arrivals. During the premiership of Rodmond Roblin (1900–15), the department became especially powerful as a tool of government patronage. Minister Robert Rogers, who held the portfolio for 11 years, was sometimes regarded as the second-most-important figure in the Roblin government.
In the latter part of 1914, Public Works Minister Walter Humphries Montague was forced to announce that expenditures for the province's new legislative buildings would be exceeded by 50%. Roblin was forced to appoint a Royal Commission to study the controversy, and his government resigned from office the following year after the commission report identified instances government corruption and kickbacks. Montague was indicted on fraud charges, but died before legal proceedings could begin.
In later years, however, specific government works were taken away from the Public Works ministry and allocated to separate portfolios. The position gradually came to have less authority, though it remained responsible for road construction and related projects in mid-century. Upon the establishment of an all-party coalition government in 1940, Progressive Conservative (PC) leader Errick French Willis was appointed as Minister of Public Works under a Liberal-Progressive premier, holding the position for 10 years, until the PCs left the coalition.