Jousting continues over NDP budget bill

A fight over the budget bill carried on Thursday night as members of the Manitoba legislature braced for the sitting to cut into their summer break.

At 8 p.m., the members agreed to sit until midnight to pass the bill.

If it didn’t pass by end of business Thursday, Premier Wab Kinew had threatened to extend the spring sitting that’s scheduled to end Monday. His government’s budget bill would remove the seven per cent provincial sales tax from prepared food such as rotisserie chicken, salads and snacks, including pop and chips effective July 1.

“Regardless of whatever the premier does, we will continue to advocate for affordability for Manitobans,” Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan said Thursday after question period.

The Tories oppose the NDP budget bill, saying it doesn’t do enough to help Manitobans struggling with affordability. They’ve tried to delay the budget bill from passing, demanding it include more cost-of-living relief, including an increase to the basic personal tax exemption — to $21,000 from $15,780.

They say it would save a family of four $1,000 a year, whereas removing the PST from “junk food” would save a family $100 a year.

The PCs tried to introduce a motion on Tuesday to delay the budget bill for five months. The opposition said it would give the government more time to consider it and consult with Manitobans. They pulled an all-night filibuster before their motion was voted down by the NDP majority Wednesday afternoon.

“We’ve used, I would say, 99 per cent of the tools in our toolbox,” Khan said after Thursday’s question period.

He said the NDP missed the deadline to guarantee the budget bill would pass before the end of the spring sitting, he said.

“We have sent non-partisan, collaborative emails, letters, to work with the government on this. We have asked time and time again to work together,” the PC leader said.

Kinew has rejected the Tory proposal to increase the basic personal exemption, saying it’s not a “serious” proposal.

The premier said the budget bill includes a renters tax credit increase of $50 to $675 for the 2027 tax year, a $100 increase to the $1,600 homeowners tax credit and free transit passes for school kids.

Khan said its not enough, and that most Manitobans are being slammed with Canada’s highest inflation rate and increased education property tax increases. He said they’re prepared for the legislature to sit into June.

“We in opposition have limited tools and we’re using them all and we will proudly do it again. That’s our job,” said Khan.

The premier declined to talk to reporters after question period.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca