Manitoba budget cautiously optimistic - Finance Minister Friesen

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Published on Friday, March 16, 2018

Ken Waddell
Neepawa Banner & Press

The Manitoba PC government has set out its budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year. The new $25 per tonne carbon tax going to be used to cover the cost of raising the Basic Personal Income Tax rate by $1000 on Jan. 1, 2019 and again on Jan. 1, 2020. They are projecting that the deficit will come down. The deficit is the amount the government spends over the amount of income that it has.

The deficit just gets added to the provincial debt each year. The government is lowering ambulance fees from $425 to $340. More daycare spaces are planned. Five new schools have been announced including one in Brandon. Earlier in the year, several announcements were made to upgrade hospitals and care homes. Last year, a major expansion of the high school in Neepawa was announced.

Manitoba’s finance minister Cameron Friesen is cautiously optimistic about the province’s finances. “We are cutting the deficit and slowly re-building trust with the people of Manitoba. How we build in real tax relief for all and still keep up on capital projects is the challenge.” Friesen says so far this year 12 of the 13 departments are under budget. The fiscal year end for the province is Mar. 31.

Friesen notes that the province faces the same problems as families do, costs are going up. Years of deficit spending being added to the overall debt has raised the annual interest payments significantly.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is pleased the Manitoba government is introducing much needed tax relief, and reducing the government’s deficit by $114 million to $726 million but are concerned the budget fails to provide clarity on how carbon tax revenues will be returned to business owners.

CFIB also noted they were pleased to see the government offer a more detailed year-over-year budget projection, which reveals a $142 million summary deficit in 2021-22. They also noted that this is a step in the right direction to fix the province’s fiscal fundamentals and urged the government to release a longer-term plan to balance the budget.

CFIB likes that the province has moved by becoming a leader in cutting red tape for small businesses.