Call for PST hike grows

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A resolution at this weekend's NDP convention in Winnipeg will seek a hike in the PST to raise funds to repair Manitoba's bridges and roads. (WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES) Photo Store

Organized labour is aligning itself with the province's most powerful corporate movers and shakers to urge a reluctant provincial government to hike the PST in order to fix Manitoba's crumbling roads and bridges.

The Manitoba Federation of Labour is sponsoring a resolution at this weekend's NDP convention in Winnipeg calling on the Selinger government to increase the provincial sales tax by a percentage point and dedicate the proceeds to renew or replace municipal infrastructure.

"There is a crushing infrastructure deficit in our communities across the province that needs to be addressed," MFL president Kevin Rebeck said Tuesday.

"It is something we think is past due for the province to engage with municipalities and figure out how we can work together to address the infrastructure deficit."

The Business Council of Manitoba, which consists of chief executive officers of the province's leading companies, has been asking for the same thing for more than a year.

A one-point hike would raise an estimated $262 million a year. Manitoba is said to have an $11-billion municipal infrastructure deficit.

Jim Carr, the business council's president and CEO, welcomed the MFL's initiative.

"I'm very pleased that the Manitoba Federation of Labour has concluded that we don't have enough revenue to tackle the growing infrastructure deficit," he said Tuesday. "I welcome the resolution and I hope it passes."

The province has so far been cool to the idea of a tax hike dedicated to infrastructure renewal. The business council has sought to develop a broad consensus on the issue to pressure the province to change its mind. Carr said the MFL's support -- and potentially that of the provincial NDP -- is significant.

"When you have the business leaders of the province and the Manitoba Federation of Labour agreeing on a very important piece of public policy, you would hope that would capture some attention," he said.

Manitoba municipalities -- including the City of Winnipeg -- have been begging for a dedicated funding source that would allow them to tackle their infrastructure woes. They fear the problem will get far worse if significant steps aren't taken immediately.

The Association of Manitoba Municipalities has been calling on the province to dedicate one percentage point of the existing PST -- as opposed to a tax hike -- to fund increased infrastructure spending.

Doug Dobrowolski, the AMM's president, said Tuesday he was encouraged another voice was now pressing the government on the important issue. "If they're going to support an additional (PST percentage) point, then why not?" he said of the NDP resolution.

Dobrowolski said investing in infrastructure projects "builds the economy." And the two senior levels of government quickly recoup their investment when they fund the building or repair of roads, bridges and the like. "We need to put people to work and infrastructure is the best way to do that," he said.

According to Manitoba law, the government would have to hold a provincial referendum before increasing a major tax, such as the PST. Or it could pass a bill to repeal the legislative requirement to hold such a vote. Neither move appeals to the NDP government, which is already feeling the heat in the legislature for increasing an assortment of levies in its spring budget.

In an interview late Tuesday from Edmonton, where he was attending the western premiers' conference, Premier Greg Selinger poured cold water on the idea of raising the PST to fix municipal roads.

"We always take resolutions at the convention seriously, but as you know we've committed to a new infrastructure agreement with the federal government. We're doing our consultations on that now and so that's the direction we've decided to go," he said.

Selinger said Manitoba has committed to giving municipalities the equivalent of one percentage point of the PST for infrastructure purposes. "There's only one province that comes close to doing that in Canada and that's Saskatchewan," he said.

The MFL resolution to be debated at this weekend's NDP convention specifies funds raised by a PST hike would be added to -- and not replace -- any money municipalities already receive for infrastructure repairs.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

What's on tap

MANITOBA'S provincial NDP begins its annual three-day convention on Friday in Winnipeg.

Among the highlights is an address Saturday afternoon by new federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair -- his first public event in Manitoba since becoming Opposition leader. Premier Greg Selinger will speak to the party faithful on Friday evening.

But the main business of the convention will be to set party policy. The convention's resolution booklet contains more than 150 motions, dealing with such far-ranging topics as migrant worker rights, active transportation, airships, peat mining and mandatory testing for elderly drivers. Here is a sampling:

The Wolseley NDP is urging the government to create a "local and sustainable" food procurement policy for the food it purchases for various institutions.

The Manitoba Federation of Labour and Concordia NDPers are pushing for public health-care coverage for seasonal agricultural workers.

Two constituencies want a feasibility study on the use of airships to transport supplies to northern Manitoba.

The Winnipeg Labour Council is promoting a resolution urging the government to eliminate interest charges on student loans.

Fort Garry-Riverview party members are seeking several measures to boost active transportation, including long-term provincial funding to municipalities and dedicating a percentage of capital and operating funding on roads and bridges for this purpose.

Wolseley NDPers want a moratorium on all new peat mines in the province due to environmental concerns.

Party members in River East want the province to facilitate the planning and construction of a rapid-transit corridor along Henderson Highway or Gateway Road. They also want the province to allow the city to impose a gasoline tax to pay for rapid transit.

Wolseley party members are seeking increases in welfare rates, first raising them to 1992 levels and then indexing them to inflation.

Five constituencies and the party's youth wing are calling for the development of a provincial policy against homophobia.

NDPers in the southwestern constituency of Arthur-Virden want Manitoba Public Insurance to implement a mandatory retesting program for drivers who reach age 80. Elderly drivers would then be retested every five years after that.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 30, 2012 A3