Bleak election picture coloured by art of misdirection By: Dan Lett Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Wednesday, May. 17, 2023

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/05/2023 (885 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s well-known that in high-concept theatrical magic, magicians often rely on misdirection to maintain illusions.

It’s a diabolically simple technique: direct your attention to one action, drawing away from the fact they’re actually doing something completely different.

The same approach can be applied to things such as governing. Governments frequently manage announcements and public events to draw the attention of their citizens and distract you from what else they are really up to.

All of which is to say, after seven years in power, we can say with some certainty Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative government is a frequent practitioner of the dark art of misdirection.

As is the case with any government fighting for its very survival, the Tories are making all kinds of announcements, and uttering all sorts of claims, in the hope they can somehow win re-election this year.

The early reviews have not been positive.

Governments frequently manage announcements and public events to draw the attention of their citizens and distract you from what else they are really up to.

A torrent of announcements and pledges that attempt to fix the health-care system has either backfired or failed to excite voters. Similar efforts to shore up public education have largely failed to impress.

However, they have one card left to play in a desperate attempt to snatch victory from what appears to be likely defeat: tax cuts.

The most recent budget tabled by the PC government contains nearly $1 billion in tax expenditures, including big bites out of income tax and education property tax. All this on top of years of a previous one-point cut to the PST.

The heavy reliance on tax cuts as its major selling point could also be seen at the recent PC annual general meeting.

“Manitobans deserve to keep more of their hard-earned money, because we know that Manitobans know best how to spend their money, not government,” Premier Heather Stefanson told party members.

Get ready for the misdirection.

Unfortunately for the Manitobans the premier referenced, while the Tories have been thundering on about returning hard-earned money via tax cuts, they have been clawing back hundreds of millions of dollars through higher-than-necessary increases in hydro and automobile insurance rates.

The costs of electricity from Manitoba Hydro and Autopac coverage from Manitoba Public Insurance are supposed to be determined by an objective analysis of the finances at both Crown monopolies, a process overseen and regulated by the Public Utilities Board.

It’s a system that has worked exceedingly well for consumers.

However, in the past few years, the Tories have weakened the role of the PUB and manipulated the way both Hydro and MPI do business — all to allow both Crowns to retain significantly more money than they need or spend it on things they shouldn’t.

Consider Hydro, which recently asked the PUB to approve a four per cent increase to basic electricity rates over the next year that will add nearly $100 million in additional revenue to its reserves at a time it is earning record revenues fuelled by historically lucrative export sales.

Why is Hydro doing this?

The PC government ignored the experts and passed Bill 36, forcing the Crown utility to amass much higher equity (cash) reserves than previously required.

Why would government insist on the higher targets?

After giving away more than $1 billion in tax cuts, the Tories are trying to protect their weakened treasury by pumping in more cash from Hydro reserve accounts, which helps shore up the summary budget balance.

In short, they’re using Hydro rate increases to shrink the size of the deficit and obscure the impact of the tax cuts.

A similar sleight of hand is going on at MPI, where the government allowed the Crown auto insurer to take $113 million in Autopac revenues to cover the costs of a massively over-budget IT project and operating costs for Driver and Vehicle Licensing.

In short, they’re using Hydro rate increases to shrink the size of the deficit and obscure the impact of the tax cuts.

MPI administers DVL on behalf of the government, which is supposed to transfer money it collects from driver’s licence and vehicle renewals and registrations to cover all costs.

However, since 2016, the Tories have not given MPI enough to cover those costs, even though, in 2021, government collected $212 million from DVL — more than enough to cover the cost of the IT upgrades and driver and vehicle licensing.

But if the Tories did that, then all that easy money from driver’s licence and vehicle insurance renewals wouldn’t be available to fatten up general revenues and shrink the deficit.

The Tories must know, as a political strategy, misdirection has its limits. As is the case in magic, once somebody realizes sleight of hand is involved, there’s no illusion left.

There’s only a lame attempt to fool people.

dan.lett@winnipegfreepress.com

Dan Lett
Columnist

Dan Lett is a columnist for the Free Press, providing opinion and commentary on politics in Winnipeg and beyond. Born and raised in Toronto, Dan joined the Free Press in 1986.  Read more about Dan.

Dan’s columns are built on facts and reactions, but offer his personal views through arguments and analysis. The Free Press’ editing team reviews Dan’s columns before they are posted online or published in print — part of the our tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.