Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew's popularity shows little sign of waning more than a year after he led the provincial New Democrats to power.

But there are some tough choices ahead as he tries to fulfil promises to improve health care, address poverty and get the government's finances in order.

Kinew has carried through on election promises to hire more health-care workers, expand school nutrition programs and temporarily suspend the provincial fuel tax for a one-year period that is to end Jan. 1. 

The Manitoba government is set to receive $337 million more in equalization payments from the federal government in the next fiscal year.

The total of more than $4.6 billion is a 7.7 per cent increase over this year's level and follows a 24 per cent jump from last year.

Equalization is a federally-funded program that gives money to poorer provinces so that they can offer similar services to richer provinces at comparable tax rates.

The Manitoba government's plan to replace paper health cards with more durable and modern plastic ones is running a bit behind schedule.

Premier Wab Kinew has said on a few occasions, including in a social media video last month, that people would be able to start applying for the new cards in December.

He now says the process is to get underway in mid-January and that it was pushed back in part by the postal workers' strike.

"We had existing (paper) health cards going out the door, just kind of starting to pile up," Kinew said in an interview.

The Manitoba government is ending its yearlong fuel tax holiday but bringing back the levy at a lower rate.

The government temporarily suspended the 14-cents-a-litre fuel tax at the beginning of 2024 as a way to help people deal with the rising cost of living.

The province has announced the tax will be back in place on New Year's Day at a rate of 12.5 cents per litre.

The tax holiday caused Manitoba's inflation rate to be among the lowest in the country, but it was criticized by some as favouring people who drive large, expensive vehicles.

Manitoba Finance Minister Adrien Sala says the NDP government remains committed to balancing the budget before the next election, but a veteran political analyst says the path to balance is muddy, especially after cost overruns this year.

"I'm still not clear on the budgetary path that they claim that they've set for themselves and how they're going to get there," Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba, said Tuesday.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says his government is preparing a list of potential retaliatory measures if the United States government imposes new tariffs on Canadian goods.

Kinew wouldn't reveal details but says the province has to take seriously the threat of widespread tariffs from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.

When asked whether Manitoba would consider restricting electricity exports, as Ontario Premier Doug Ford has mentioned, Kinew did not directly answer.

He says Manitoba must be ready to defend sectors such as agriculture, energy and manufacturing.

Winnipeg is eyeing the largest property tax increase in decades and considering a cut to snow plowing in an attempt to address a fiscal squeeze.

The city's preliminary budget for next year proposes a 5.95 per cent hike in property taxes, following an increase of 3.5 per cent in the last budget.

It also recommends a pilot project that would see residential streets cleared after a snowfall of at least 15 centimetres — up from the current 10-centimetre threshold.

The Manitoba government is planning to have conservation officers help patrol efforts along the Canada-United States border.

Premier Wab Kinew says the officers would serve as extra eyes and ears for police and other security agencies and could help in humanitarian efforts to rescue people.

He pointed to the case of a family from India who froze to death in Manitoba in 2022 while trying to walk across the border in a blizzard.

Kinew says strengthening border security would address concerns expressed by the US and help protect Manitoba's economy.

A jury deliberated for about an hour Friday before convicting two men on human smuggling charges in a case where a family from India froze to death in Manitoba while trying to walk across the Canada-U.S. border.

Steve Shand of Florida and Harshkumar Patel, an Indian national arrested in Chicago, were each found guilty on all four counts they faced related to bringing unauthorized people into the U.S., transporting them and profiting from it.

A prosecutor urged a jury Thursday to find two accused human smugglers guilty, saying the men cared more about money than people's safety and their actions led to the deaths of a family of four in a prairie blizzard.

"They knew they were risking people's lives," Michael McBride said in his closing arguments after three days of testimony in U.S. district court.

"To them, all of those people were nothing but dollar signs."