Business Council of Manitoba

Billion Dollar Bungles

Tomorrow’s provincial budget will reveal the government’s spending plans for the year.

Budget Basically Simple

Premier Greg Selinger is the provincial government’s budget master, having delivered all 10 since the NDP took power in 1999.

Finance Minister Greg Selinger faces his toughest challenge since taking the job nearly ten years ago.He has to stimulate a weakened economy, avoid running continuous deficits, safeguard essential public services while cutting non essential ones. This juggling act comes when transfer payments from Ottawa are uncertain and government revenues are certain to decline.

We don’t hear enough about what those who have in this city are doing for those who don’t have.
Especially when it involves kids most at risk of growing up to be, well, you know.
Car thieves.
That’s why I’m glad I happened to call Jim Carr late Wednesday afternoon. He’s the president and CEO of the Business Council of Manitoba, which represents 65 of the province’s most socially enlightened corporate leaders. It was Free Press City Editor Paul Samyn who tipped me on the story. And Carr who filled me in on the details.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to deliver our government’s ninth budget and I do so with particular enthusiasm and excitement. All of our efforts since 1999, when our government was first elected, lead us to this moment when we announce a series of bold measures designed to lead Manitoba into the decade ahead.

We have lowered taxes beyond any election promises during the past nine years and we are pleased to report that this policy has positioned Manitoba to lead the nation in GDP growth, according to the Conference Board of Canada. Therefore, today I am announcing a plan to eliminate the payroll tax within four years, starting immediately with a 25 per cent reduction in the rate at which this tax is imposed.

Canada needs a fiscal overhaul, a fresh approach to relations among governments. The election of the Harper Conservatives will stimulate that discussion, given the prime minister’s interest in keeping Ottawa out of provincial business. Just as important is the provinces’ attitude towards the municipalities. There hasn’t been a significant conversation to sort out relationships among the three levels of government in Canada since 1973. It’s time for a serious dialogue. What is clear is that any successful strategy to rebalance municipal finance will involve Ottawa and the provinces.

MLA Ron Shuler unveiled some ideas last week that he must believe will help him in his bid to replace Stuart Murray as leader of the Manitoba Conservative party. They include term limits for premiers, independent votes for MLAs on all matters other than budgets and throne speeches, fixed-date elections and a requirement that riding associations endorse policy and pass it to caucus rather than the other way around.

No doubt, all of these are ideas worthy of discussion, perhaps informally over a few brews on the deck with friends on a warm summer night, or even formally; say as resolutions at conventions, conferences or confabulations.

KYOTO or no Kyoto, Manitoba’s treasury of clean, renewable power makes it an important player in North America’s energy market. Since 1973, the western world has understood that reliance on imported fossil fuels is a dangerous habit. U.S. President George W. Bush himself referred to this “addiction” in the State of the Union address in January.

Opportunities for Manitoba abound. We have already harnessed 5,000 megawatts of hydro power used for domestic consumption or sold on the export market. There are 5,000 megawatts as yet undeveloped and other sources of renewable energy being developed throughout the province right now.

THE insatiable maw of Manitoba’s health-care system eats nearly 42 cents of every dollar spent by the provincial government. This fiscal giant crowds out everything else, most notably post-secondary education.

In the mid-1980s, Canada was spending $4 on health for every $1 on post-secondary education. Today, that ratio is $6 to $1. Health spending in Canada this year is expected to rise by 6.7 per cent. At that rate, by the year 2024, it will consume a whopping 70 per cent of provincial budgets. What’s to be done?