Manitoba’s NDP government reached a milestone last week as it has now officially taken $500 million out of the pockets of Manitobans with its increase in the provincial sales tax from 7% to 8%.
Milestones are often a good time to reflect on accomplishments and many Manitobans are likely wondering what it is that they have received for the five hundred million dollars that Greg Selinger and the NDP have taken from them?
Manitobans consistently state that the condition of our roads is not improving. The province is still ranked last in education outcomes in the areas of math, science and literacy. National studies show that wait times for many important medical procedures are higher in Manitoba than anywhere else. So after nearly $500 million in new tax revenue from the PST increase alone, Manitobans have the right to ask why they keep paying more and getting less.
Not only are basic infrastructure and services not improving, the provincial debt continues to rise by hundreds of millions of dollars annually because even with all that new tax revenue, the NDP are no closer to balancing the province’s books then they were before the PST increase.
Compare this situation to what is happening nationally under the Conservative government. This week the federal Conservative government presented its annual budget. In it there were several tax cuts announced, including income splitting and tax cuts to small businesses. There were new initiatives to allow Canadians to save more and to help seniors live in their homes longer if they choose. There were investments in infrastructure and public transit. And this was all accomplished while still balancing the budget.
Naturally there will be some who argue that the federal budget should have offered tax cuts in different areas instead of the ones that it did, or that the surplus should have been even greater, or that investments should have occurred in other areas. But it’s refreshing to even be able to have a discussion about which taxes should be reduced or how big the surplus should be.
That discussion hasn’t been able to occur provincially under Greg Selinger and the NDP when budget after budget has raised taxes while increasing the debt. It would be a refreshing change in Manitoba to be able to have a debate about which taxes to cut or how big the surplus should be but it simply won’t happen as long as Manitoba has an NDP government that is dedicated to high taxes and big deficits.
So we await the Manitoba provincial budget next week. And as Manitobans wonder just what happened to the $500 million in new PST revenue the NDP have taken from them, it’s worth imagining a time when Manitobans didn’t have to worry about how much more families will have to pay or how much debt is being left to their children. That would be a change for the better.
