9°c A few clouds
19°c Sunny
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
NDP talks taxation, Tories talk health
Rate cuts; advocate on web for patients
Premier Greg Selinger promised to cut taxes for farmers and homeowning seniors Sunday, while the Conservatives continued to make new pledges on health care.
Selinger said a re-elected NDP government would eliminate the school tax for seniors, a move that the party projects would save them $35 million a year.
Vote Manitoba
-
News and analysis of the results of Manitoba's provincial election.
-
See the results for each electoral district with our interactive map
-
We track the parties' promises, issue by issue
-
Find out more about the people representing Manitoba districts.
"By eliminating the school tax for seniors, they will no longer have that burden, and it will make it easier for them to remain in their homes for as long as they wish to," the premier said at a home in Royalwood in the constituency of Southdale.
He also vowed to eliminate the education tax on all Manitoba farmland, which would save farmers a collective $14 million a year. In recent years, the NDP has provided increasingly higher credits to farmers in lieu of school taxes. The province is now offsetting 80 per cent of such taxes.
Selinger said the current NDP administration is "the only government we're aware of" in Manitoba history to eliminate five taxes. The other three were the education support levy, the small-business tax and the capital tax on business, he said.
Progressive Conservative Leader Hugh McFadyen said the NDP's tax-cut plan sounds as credible as its pledge in 1999 to end hallway medicine.
"It doesn't sound at all as though he's committed to keeping the promise," McFadyen said. "It just sounds like a desperate promise and I think the numbers are being understated in terms of the impact on the budget.
"My first-blush response, when you exempt every senior from a property tax, is that it's going to be significant."
At a news conference at the campaign headquarters of River East PC candidate Bonnie Mitchelson, McFadyen said if he becomes premier, his government would spend $150,000 to create a patient-advocate website. It would guide Manitoban families through the health-care system, specifying such things as patient wait times, bed availability and other services like home care.
"It's primarily directed at caregivers and they're the ones who gave us the idea for this," McFadyen said. "It's modest, we realize, but it's one way of providing them with more information."
McFadyen said under the NDP, the information is scattered across multiple websites and links of Manitoba Health and the various regional health authorities. He said a PC government would also create a seniors health-care hotline with information on seniors health care.
As well, it would introduce geriatric emergency management nurses at the Grace and Concordia hospitals. The plan calls for specialized nurse clinicians to conduct comprehensive geriatric assessments, assist emergency staff with admissions, arrange for appropriate supports in the community and educate staff, patients and caregivers about geriatric issues. The program is based on one already in place in Ontario.
River East is one of several ridings at play this election as the NDP has made steady gains there in the past two votes. Mitchelson has represented it since 1986, but won it by only 52 votes over the NDP's Kurt Penner in 2007. Penner is running again this election.
Meanwhile, Southdale -- the location of Selinger's announcement on Sunday -- was Tory territory until the NDP's Erin Selby stole it from the Conservatives in 2007.
larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 19, 2011 A4
More Local
- Back to Top
- Return to Local
Poll
Most Popular Local
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- Apple trick on Ellen falls short for city woman
- Couple faces new charges of sexual assault
- Grocer Joe Cantor dies at 88
- A new mom's booze-fuelled hell
- The end of the credit card?
- Gentle, humble native leader who made history lies in state
- Goose gets cooked in Linden Woods
- WAG's 100 Masters exhibit drawing more than art aficionados
- Police identify slaying victims
- Charleswood deaths being investigated as domestic incident
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- '2 minutes after I read the winning numbers, I retired': Winnipeg lotto winner
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- Sex charges for ex-club boss
- Police identify slaying victims
- Aboriginal leader Elijah Harper dies
- 'Responsible Winnipeg' ads appear on sign run by mayor-owned Goldeyes' baseball park
- Woman killed in head-on crash in southwestern Manitoba
- Headingley grass fire destroys dealership's cars
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- A child-custody catastrophe
- Charleswood deaths being investigated as domestic incident
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- Co-worker 'sick' today? Maybe it's the $17M flu
- '2 minutes after I read the winning numbers, I retired': Winnipeg lotto winner
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- Parents, community relieved and elated as missing boy found safe
- No threat from bag found at Winnipeg Square
- Man missing since 2009 found safe
- Grocer Joe Cantor dies at 88
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- U of M to chop $5M out of $642-M budget
- U of M researchers awarded $9.5M in grants, U of W $2.2M
- Goose gets cooked in Linden Woods
- Gentle, humble native leader who made history lies in state
- WAG's 100 Masters exhibit drawing more than art aficionados
- Elijah Harper: The humble man who said no
- New main event confirmed at Winnipeg’s UFC 161 due to Barao injury
- Province courts European workers
- Province introduces changes to rules governing landlords, renters
- Crushing blow for amateur sport
- Aboriginal leader Elijah Harper dies
- Fishing for fashion
- Woman killed in head-on crash in southwestern Manitoba
- Sex charges for ex-club boss
- Newly minted MD a beacon for kids in youth program
- North End proud
- Power restored to Linden Woods after goose collides with lines
- Grocer Joe Cantor dies at 88
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- Mental-health patients get own ER
- A child-custody catastrophe
- Black market in moose thrives
- An uncommon phenomenon
- Steen invests $1M in family entertainment centre
- Earls on Main going, but new one coming
- Province introduces changes to rules governing landlords, renters
- Crushing blow for amateur sport
- Boost same-sex curricula: union
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.