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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Budget passes, gas prices jump
Debate over flap delayed approval
The Red River Co-op in Whyte Ridge was nearly drained Monday.
It's official -- the NDP's budget and its new taxes finally passed late Tuesday after two days of stalling by the opposition.
What's dominated the budget debate more than the tax increases--the gas tax went up 2.5 per cent midnight Tuesday -- were calls by the Tories for the head of Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Christine Melnick over her handling of a bureaucrat's email to immigrant groups more than a week ago.
The budget vote was supposed to happen Friday, but the Tories used procedural wrangling over the April 18 email to delay the budget vote until late Tuesday.
Hours before the budget vote, Melnick was again on the hot seat in the house defending her assistant deputy minister, Ben Rempel, for sending out emails that invited people to watch a debate over Ottawa's pending changes to immigration settlement services.
The Progressive Conservatives claim Rempel's action is a sign the NDP "politicized" the civil service by encouraging about 450 immigration workers and immigrants to come to the legislative building April 19 for what they say was a staged political event.
"This is not unusual for the department to communicate," Melnick said outside the house. "This happens on an ongoing basis."
The Tories now want Melnick to appear before a legislature committee to answer more questions on the matter, but Tory house leader Mavis Taillieu said she doesn't hold out much hope the NDP will call such a committee.
"This minister had her ADM send an email, or someone in her department had the ADM send this email, to civil servants taking them away from taxpayer-funded positions, taking them away from delivering services to immigrants, to have them come here and do their political bidding," Taillieu said.
Taillieu added the issue will come up again in the upcoming budget-estimates process.
The Tories also questioned how much the NDP will actually reap from the higher fuel tax, which adds about $1 to a passenger car fill-up.
PC finance critic Heather Stefanson said the NDP has lowballed the new revenue it will collect from the gas tax so it can divert the excess to lowering its deficit, which stood a $1.12 billion at fiscal year-end.
The NDP has forecast it will earn $48.6 million in gas-tax revenue and will put it into fixing in roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
Finance Minister Stan Struthers has said new revenue raised from a $35 increase in vehicle registration fees will also be spent on roads and other infrastructure.
The province is also extending the provincial sales tax to spa treatments, manicures, pedicures, tattooing and body piercing effective July 1. The 2012-13 revenue impact is estimated to be $95.5 million.
Run on gas
With motorists eager to top off their tank on the eve of a 2.5 per cent gas tax hike, traffic was so brisk at the Red River Co-op location in Whyte Ridge on Monday night, it ran out of regular gas.
With more than an hour to go until closing, an alarm went off to alert staff its reserves of premium gas -- which it was selling for the regular price -- were precariously low. When asked what would happen when that ran out, an attendant replied, "We'll shut off the lights."
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 2, 2012 A4
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