Tories promise to eliminate PST on trees, flowers

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This article was published 13/09/2023 (752 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Progressive Conservatives promised to kill the provincial sales tax on flowers and trees, if re-elected Oct. 3.

The candidate for Seine River, Janice Morley-Lecomte, made the announcement at a campaign event in the driveway of a home on a Charleswood cul-de-sac in the Roblin constituency.

“Plants, trees and shrubs are good for our mental health,” said Morley-Lecomte, the minister of mental health and community wellness and a home gardener.

More trees and plants produce cleaner, healthier communities, she said.

“Our PC team wants to encourage more greenery as our province grows,” she said, noting that if re-elected, the Tories would make house plants, flower plants, seeds and bulbs PST exempt.

Fruit and vegetable plants are already exempt from the PST, Morley-Lecomte said. The promise to remove the PST on flowers and trees will cost an estimated $750,000, a PC spokesman said.

It follows the PCs latest budget commitment to plant an extra one million trees in Manitoba over the next year, a PC press release said.

Morley-Lecomte said the location for Wednesday’s campaign announcement was chosen because of its landscaping.

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“It’s a beautiful yard and a beautiful garden,” she said as the news conference.

The candidate responded to questions while a dozen striking Manitoba Public Insurance employees gathered on the street chanting “where is Heather”, referring to Premier and PC Leader Heather Stefanson.

The promise to kill the PST on trees and flowers is the latest in a string of tax cuts announced by the Tories.

On Monday, the Tories promised to phase out the province’s payroll tax over eight years. Last week, the Tories said they would let seniors defer some or all of their property taxes, and the money would be repaid with interest when the senior sells their home.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter

Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.

Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.