NDP vows end to education property tax rebates for out-of-province billionaires

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This article was published 08/05/2023 (852 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An NDP government would stop cutting education property tax rebate cheques to out-of-province billionaires but would otherwise leave the Tory tax program intact, Opposition Leader Wab Kinew says.

On Monday, Kinew said Manitobans should not expect his party to “do anything dramatically different” with the Progressive Conservatives’ $453 million rebate program, if the NDP forms government in the general election, scheduled for Oct. 3.

In question period, the Fort Rouge MLA called on Premier Heather Stefanson to “stop her handouts” to billionaires by way of rebate cheques to commercial property owners who pay education property taxes.

In 2021, the Tories committed to phase out the tax over 10 years. This year, the rebate increased from 37.5 per cent to 50 per cent for residential and farm property owners. The rebate remained at 10 per cent for commercial property owners.

Figures released by the NDP Monday indicated nine commercial property addresses associated with grocer Real Canadian Superstore, owned by Loblaw Companies, received $300,000 in rebates in 2022.

“Last year, this government cut (Loblaw president) Galen Weston a cheque for $300,000,” Kinew said in question period, saying the money would be better spent in Manitoba schools.

Stefanson said her government has increased spending on education and health care since 2016 while cutting taxes for Manitobans. She pointed to changes to personal income taxes in this year’s budget as one measure the Tories have taken to address the rising cost of living.

“That took more than 47,000 low-income Manitobans off the tax roll in Manitoba altogether,” Stefanson said.

The premier said the NDP will have no choice but to raise taxes to pay for their promises if it forms government.

Kinew would not offer specifics on how the NDP would administer the tax program to exclude some wealthy commercial property owners who are based outside Manitoba.

“For us, for anyone in Manitoba who’s been paying for these expensive grocery bills during this period of inflation, to hear that the PC government has given $300,000 to Galen Weston’s company, to hear that some of the richest people in the world have been getting $100,000 cheques from this PC government, while Manitobans are tightening their belts, we’re calling out that that’s the wrong approach,” Kinew said.

He said money being spent on rebates for billionaire property owners outside Manitoba would instead be invested in schools.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca