The most recent session of the Manitoba Legislature was largely focused around the NDP government’s decision to end balanced budget legislation in the province of Manitoba.

Throughout the debate, the NDP seem to have been without much focus. One day they would be making pronouncements about how well the Manitoba economy was doing and the next they would be defending the need to run massive deficits because the economy was doing so poorly as a result of the recession.

One day they would be saying that massive deficits were needed as a result of job losses and the next day they would be saying that the province’s unemployment rate was low compared to the rest of Canada. Then they would be telling the public that government revenues were in decline yet soon after it was revealed that there were record revenues and federal transfer payments flowing into the provincial coffers.

The reality is that the NDP’s decision to scrap balance budget legislation is simply a result of the fact they have never supported government living within its means. They didn’t fully support the legislation when it was introduced in 1995 and they don’t fully support it now.

Ironically, when the vote was held last Thursday evening, the Finance Minister, Rosann Wowchuk, failed to stand up and support her own legislation. Some reports indicated that she was working on her Blackberry and didn’t realize the vote was happening while others suggested she just stood up at the wrong time.

Regardless of the reason, the record stands that the Finance Minister of the province failed to support her own budget implementation legislation. While Wowchuk acknowledged that failing to vote for her own budget legislation was a little embarrassing, she dismissed it as a minor issue. Perhaps, but it was symbolic of the NDP’s handling of the entire budget process.

Rather than paying attention to Manitobans who have said for years that the government should be ensuring that all taxdollars are being used wisely and that the books were in balance, the NDP government has been distracted and inattentive to these priorities.

Ending balanced budget legislation in the province could have been avoided if the NDP would have used the past 10 years of strong economic times to prepare for more difficult economic challenges. They could have saved billions of dollars by making good decisions such as choosing not to run the new hydro transmission line down the west side of the province when the east route is safer, shorter, more environmentally friendly and cheaper.

In the end, out of confusion, the NDP Finance Minister didn’t even vote for her own legislation. There couldn’t have been a more fitting ending.