At one time in Canada, the contents of provincial and federal budgets were the best kept secrets in town. Only a few key members of the government and civil service would know the contents and any premature disclosure, either of the specifics of the budget or even in a general sense, was treated as a serious breach. Today, governments see the budget as a messaging exercise as much as a financial one. Not only are there announcements for weeks after the budget, but some details are even provided before the budget is tabled in the Legislature or Parliament.
And there is strategy behind budget communication. To ensure that the actual budget day media coverage is filled with as much good news as possible, the government will often provide indications of bad news in advance. By doing this, it doesn’t take away from the things it wants to highlight on budget day. That is likely why Premier Wab Kinew was in the media late last week dropping hints that taxes will be going up in the provincial budget March 24th.
It will likely surprise no one that the Manitoba NDP is increasing taxes. It seems to come every spring that they are in government. As predictable as the spring melt. But in a year when all Canadians are facing the highest increases in recent times for food and other necessities, there was at least the hope that the NDP might hold off on tax increases. Especially since they have already jacked up taxes on all Manitobans in recent weeks.
It began in January when once again the NDP refused to adjust the income tax brackets to inflation. This is often called a sneaky tax. As wages go up and workers move into higher tax brackets, they pay more income taxes on that income if there is no adjustment in the tax brackets. Added to that was the fact that Manitoba school divisions are again announcing big tax increases, some over 10%. When asked about these big school tax increases, which have occurred two years in a row, Premier Kinew shrugged his shoulders and said this was a school board decision, ignoring the significant funding and support role the province plays.
While the NDP Premier last week said that he would be targeting the wealthy in the upcoming budget, the fact is that everyone is paying significantly more already. What has been missing since the day the NDP came back into government in Manitoba is any plan on how they are going to reduce the deficit and balance the budget as they promised. Not only is the deficit not going down, it is going up significantly even while taxes are being increased. This is a story that Manitobans have seen before. The last NDP government in Manitoba both increased taxes and increased the debt. That ultimately led to significant credit downgrades for the province and a real impact on the pocketbooks of Manitobans.
So, while Manitobans keep an eye on the ever-increasing cost of groceries, they best also keep one hand on their wallet. Because in a couple of weeks, Manitoba’s NDP government is coming looking for more taxes and nobody is likely to be spared.
