Manitoba’s Finance Minister Ranked Worst in Canada; PC Finance Critic Not Surprised
WINNIPEG — The Canadian Taxpayers Federation released a report on Tuesday ranking Canada’s provincial finance ministers, and Manitoba Finance Minister Adrian Sala is at the bottom of the list.
The Finance Minister Report Card ranks provincial finance ministers on spending, tax relief, and debt based on their latest provincial budgets. Sala received an overall grade of “F,” tied for the lowest in the country with Newfoundland and Labrador.
“We shouldn’t be surprised that Manitoba’s finance minister received a failing grade from the Taxpayers Federation,” said Midland MLA Lauren Stone, PC Critic for Finance. “This is the same finance minister who came up with the NDP’s disastrous school tax scheme, which saw more than half the properties in Winnipeg hit with skyrocketing school taxes, costing property owners an additional $330 million.”
The Taxpayers Federation also noted that the NDP government will pocket an additional $82 million this year through bracket creep. The NDP quietly removed inflation indexing from tax brackets, so when Manitobans receive cost-of-living wage increases, they pay more income tax to the provincial government. Manitoba is the only province to hike taxes in its budget this year, according to the CTF.
The impact of bracket creep was also noted by credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings. S&P says that taking an additional $82 million from Manitoba taxpayers this year, the NDP government has eliminated any of the alleged benefits from their affordability measures.
Along with taxes going up, the CTF pointed out that Manitoba’s debt is skyrocketing as well. The NDP’s latest budget increased the province’s debt by $1 billion compared to last year, meaning that Manitobans are being saddled with some of the highest debt interest payments in the country. The CTF called on Sala to reign in spending and stop irresponsibly piling more debt onto Manitoba taxpayers.
“This ranking of NDP Finance Minister Adrien Sala at the bottom of the heap is putting all Manitobans at a huge financial disadvantage,” said Stone. “Because of their poor fiscal planning and out-of-control spending, the NDP will have to hike taxes even higher to pay for their expensive promises.”
“This is going to raise the cost of living for Manitobans even higher. This is a government that Manitobans can’t afford.”
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Finance Minister Report Card is available here.
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