Let’s be clear. Almost nobody in Manitoba actually expects the NDP government to meet any of the financial targets that it sets for itself every year. After all, the current NDP government has missed every financial budget for the past two years, and the previous NDP government before this one, missed all their targets for years as well. So, the fact that just before Christmas the NDP again announced it had blown past its projected deficit for the year wasn’t really surprising to anyone. What was surprising was the amount that was announced.
The NDP are now projecting to more than double the deficit it had set for Manitoba for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. And it’s not like it was promising to be fiscally careful to begin with. When the budget year started, the NDP said that it would run a $794 million deficit. That would, had it been met, already been one of the largest deficits in Manitoba history. But just two weeks ago the NDP announced that it was now expecting to double that deficit to $1.6 billion. This despite having increased property and other taxes.
Of course, a portion of this increase in the deficit, about $174 million, is attributable to the devastating forest fires that Manitoba experienced this summer. But the deficit is increasing by hundreds of millions of dollars more than the amount used to battle forest fires. And it continues the pattern set by the NDP since coming into government.
According to the audited books of the province, which were confirmed by the Public Accounts Committee of the Manitoba Legislature, the previous Progressive Conservative government left the NDP a budget surplus of more than $300 million. While the NDP have been trying to convince Manitobans that they are watching the finances closely, after two years in government, there is no evidence that is happening. Even more strangely, the NDP continue to tell Manitobans that they plan to balance the budget in the next two years, even as the deficit grows, and now doubles. It is a promise that nobody, either inside the NDP government or outside of it, actually believes will be kept.
So, what exactly is the NDP’s financial plan? Is it too simple to say they may not really have one? If history is any indication, that may be the case. The last NDP government under Premier Greg Selinger promised every year that they would reduce the deficit. Despite increasing taxes, most famously the PST, they grew the deficit and the debt every year. Ultimately, this led to a credit downgrade for the province which results in the province paying higher interest rates on its debt.
That seems to be the same path that Manitoba is back on under an NDP government again. The deficits keep going up, taxes keep going up and all of this is catching the attention of credit rating agencies that determine the borrowing rate for the province. And to all of this, the NDP have essentially shrugged their shoulders. The question is, how do Manitobans feel? Looking to history again, deficits catch attention of the public when it becomes clear that it has to be paid for in ever increasing taxes. While that has already started only two years into this current NDP government, sadly, it feels like history is only going to continue to repeat itself until Manitobans get tired of paying more and getting less.
