Local mayors and reeves were able to bring their concerns directly to Premier Brian Pallister on Friday.

PVRAM (Pembina Valley Reeves and Mayors) spent the morning in Winkler with the Premier and a number of cabinet ministers.

"I have tremendous respect for local government representatives," Premier Brian Pallister says. "They are closest to the services we need to provide."

Winkler Mayor Martin Harder says their concerns revolved around taxes, including the Carbon Tax, as well as the Federal Government's proposed tax changes on small to medium businesses.

"We feel it will be extremely detrimental to growing communities and growing family businesses that depend on a bit of a break," Harder says.

Pallister says the province is very concerned the proposed tax changes could erode middle class business owners' resources to grow their businesses.

He notes small business is the heart and soul of Manitoba's economic growth, "our future is in small business."

While Pallister didn't have an update on the four-laning of PTH 32, he notes they continue to make investments based on a "value for money" model, adding they've made a $2 billion commitment, the largest infrastructure investment in the province's history.

"Not only are we going to invest, we're going to invest more wisely by making sure we're investing in projects that serve Manitobans well," Pallister says.

Harder says the 11 municipalities represented by PVRAM were grateful for the meeting.

"The neatest thing is... we know they are listening," Harder says.