The Manitoba Progressive Conservatives, Manitoba Liberals – and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation all reacted to the Manitoba government’s announced $1.6-billion deficit in separate emails on Tuesday (Nov 5). You can read them below.
In a desperate attempt to hide their high-tax, high-spending agenda, the NDP are misleading Manitobans about the finances of the province in order to cover their tracks for their costly $3-billion election platform, PC Leader Heather Stefanson announced Tuesday (Dec 5).
“The NDP were left with an audited $270-million surplus,” said Stefanson. “And yet, they are trying to fool the public with a false narrative that the sky is falling, spooking Manitobans right before the holidays and bringing fear into the economy. The NDP knows that the only way they can pay for their promises is to cut services, raise taxes, or do both.”
Manitoba PCs know the best way to raise government revenues is by growing the economy—but, within hours of being sworn in as government, the NDP disbanded Manitoba’s Economic Development Board and signaled to the world that Manitoba is closed for business. In just two months, the NDP government has also canceled a $1.5-billion redevelopment of the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, cut the surgical and diagnostic recovery task force without an interim plan for patient care, and put several new school projects on the chopping block—all while committing to further “belt-tightening” across departments.
In their election platform, the NDP significantly under-costed their promises, which actually totalled more than $3 billion in new spending. They also incorrectly suggested that they could use unallocated budget funding to spend on these promises.
“The NDP’s math just doesn’t add up. Their numbers change, their stories change, but one thing remains the same: the NDP’s hunger for raising taxes and running massive deficits,” said Obby Khan, PC Shadow Minister for Finance.
“The NDP can’t just make $3 billion in election promises and then blame the previous government for their accounting failures. The NDP wanted to govern, so now’s the time for them to step up, behave like a government, and take responsibility instead of playing political games with Manitobans, their livelihoods, and their taxpayer dollars.”’
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Cindy Lamoureux, MLA for Tyndall Park and Interim Manitoba Liberal Party Leader expressed deep concerns over the release of the province’s economic update saying that the Manitoba Government continues to dodge the big questions leaving Manitobans guessing before the holidays.
“This NDP government campaigned hard on promises of no cuts. They promised to reverse the years of austerity under the PCs. It truly feels that this government is trying to set the stage to announce budget cuts on services that Manitobans rely on” says Lamoureux.
While the NDP places blame on the previous PC government for its fiscal management that led to this deficit, Lamoureux says that the current government is equally responsible for their lack of fiscal planning.
“The NDP government should have had some foresight into the state of the province’s finances before making lofty promises to Manitobans. Manitobans need transparency from this government. What services should Manitobans expect to be reduced or eliminated?”
According to the Province’s own Public Accounts, Manitoba has been relying more and more on federal transfers for targeted program delivery. Transfers have increased steadily from 2019/20 to 2021/22. The province’s own records suggest that Manitoba is increasing its own vulnerability; relying less on its own-source revenues to fund core programs and services.
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The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the Manitoba government to get the ballooning deficit under control after new projections were released in the latest second-quarter-report-2023.pdf (gov.mb.ca)
“It doesn’t matter that Premier Wab Kinew inherited this mess, it’s now his job to fix it,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie Director. “Kinew is in charge now and it’s up to his government to get spending down and balance the budget, so no more money is wasted on debt interest charges.”
Budget 2023 originally predicted a $363 million deficit. The government’s latest fiscal update now projects a $1.6 billion deficit.
Total government revenue is down $719 million from budget 2023. Income tax revenue has decreased $264 million and income from Manitoba Hydro by $610 million.
Spending is up $530 billion compared to the budget. A large amount of the increased spending is a result of higher than budgeted salaries and benefits due to wage settlements and overtime pay.
According the most recent sunshine list, which discloses all government salaries that are more than $85,000, the number of Manitoba government employees earning more than $100,000 by 64 per cent from 2020 to 2022 Newsroom (taxpayer.com)
Government debt is now projected to increase to $33 billion by the end of the year. That’s a $2 billion increase compared to the budget. Interest charges on the debt will cost taxpayers $2.2 billion this year.
“Kinew needs to look for places to get spending down and bloated government salaries are a good place to start,” said Haubrich “The government shouldn’t be borrowing money on the backs of future Manitobans to fund six-figure salaries for bureaucrats.”
