Just before Christmas, new Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger left a proverbial lump of coal in the stocking of every Manitoban with the news that he has run Manitoba into the red by record levels this past year.

On December 22nd, the NDP government quietly announced that it was on track to run a deficit for this budget year of $592 million. That’s the largest deficit in the history of the province and presents a very different story than the NDP were telling Manitobans just a few months ago when they said there would be a surplus this year of $48 million.

The announcement of the huge deficit was made by NDP Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk but make no mistake, this deficit rests totally in the hands of Greg Selinger, who has been the provincial Finance Minister for almost all of the past decade. It was Mr. Selinger who took the record revenues that flowed into the province from Ottawa over the past 10 years and spent every penny, refusing to believe that someday the economy would weaken and revenues would be reduced. It was under the direction of Mr. Selinger that the province wasted millions of dollars on failed slogans like “Spirited Energy” and on things like Enhanced ID Cards that few people wanted.

For the past decade many individuals and organizations have warned the NDP government that they needed to use the good economic times and the increase in transfer payments from Ottawa in a way that prepared the province for harder economic times. Mr. Selinger ignored those warnings and now the provincial cupboards are empty.

The NDP government is now telling Manitobans that they have to be prepared to tighten their belts. Yet, even as the NDP tells Manitobans that they are willing to increase taxes or cut programs as a result of their mismanagement over the past 10 years and failure to prepare for an economic downturn, the NDP itself refuses to reverse foolish decisions that cost Manitobans millions.

For example, the NDP’s stubborn refusal to reverse its decision to force Manitoba Hydro to build a new transmission line down the west side of the province even though a route on the eastern side would be much shorter and safer, will cost  Manitobans more than $640 million. Just deciding to build the new hydro line down the east side of the province would save Manitoba taxpayers’ the amount of this year’s deficit.

After 10 years of spending big and failing to prepare Manitoba for an economic downturn, Mr. Selinger is now hoping that voters forget that it was under his watch that this record deficit was created. He is also hoping that Manitobans forget that millions of dollars could be saved today just by correcting past NDP policy decisions. He may be disappointed by just how good people’s memories are.