Full steam ahead on tax cuts: Kinew

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This article was published 06/12/2023 (678 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A $160-million provincial income tax cut will go ahead as expected next year despite the government forecasting a $1.6-billion deficit.

The NDP will not cancel significant tax bracket changes set to take effect Jan. 1, 2024, Premier Wab Kinew said Wednesday.

“The outgoing PC administration lacked a steady hand when it came to the fiscal management of the province,” Kinew told reporters after being grilled by the Opposition over the looming tax break during question period.

“We have to be steady; we have to be calm,” Kinew said.

The PC government’s last budget before being defeated by the NDP in the Oct. 3 election called for the province’s bottom two tax brackets to increase by 28 and 26 per cent, respectively, rather than index them to inflation.

The change was estimated to cost the provincial treasury $160 million in the 2024 tax year.

During the election campaign, the NDP promised to adopt the fiscal framework outlined in the Tory budget.

“Many Manitobans are rightly concerned that they may flip-flop on these measures,” Tory MLA Grant Jackson said as he challenged the premier to confirm the tax breaks will go ahead.

The premier blamed the PCs for a forecast $1.6-billion deficit, revealed by the NDP on Tuesday, in response. There will be “belt tightening” and tough decisions made to wrestle down the deficit, Kinew has warned.

PC Leader Heather Stefanson said the NDP is manufacturing a financial crisis.

“We brought in the largest income-tax reduction in the history of Manitoba so Manitobans could make ends meet,” Stefanson said. “He brought forward this fake crisis in Manitoba. What is his plan?

“Will he not just admit that his solution for Manitobans (is) to jack up taxes,” she said.

Outside the chamber, Kinew said his party is focused on keeping its campaign promises despite the challenging financial situation.

“The first step is always going to be to say ‘the deficit is our problem as government to manage,’ not to make it (the taxpayer’s) problem by coming back and asking you for more,” Kinew said.

The government is expected to provide a fiscal update next week that will include the measures the NDP was elected on and the government’s plan to pay for them.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca