Portage la Prairie's mayor is calling the latest federal budget a "wait and see" document. Irvine Ferris says it appears that a lot more civic information will come out in an update this fall, noting there's some speculation that the feds want to have a little maneuvering room with spending because of the uncertain situation in the United States. Ferris says the announcement of about seven billion dollars for creating child care spaces over the next ten years is definitely something which is needed here in Portage. He notes it's often a major challenge for parents with young children to find spaces, so the extra funding should help.

Ferris adds although there aren't a lot of details yet, the federal government is talking about some money for innovation and one of the areas they mentioned was agrifoods. He says this could certainly have a positive impact on Portage and the region because we have a fairly well-established industry here and are well known for this.

Ferris notes money is also being allocated for skills development training, adding that's really important because our workplaces are changing rapidly. He says a lot of jobs which exist today will be gone in the next five to ten years, and it's vital that people get retrained and continue to participate in the economy. Ferris notes some jobs are becoming redundant very quickly, so the skills training will go a long way toward addressing those concerns.