Tory spending blitz seeks to conceal no change of heart

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/08/2023 (815 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Stefanson government made a head-spinning 112 taxpayer-funded government announcements in the month of July — a weekday average of more than five a day.

By comparison, the province issued 45 news releases in the month of July 2022, many of which were public service notices, such as West Nile virus alerts, heat warnings and fire bulletins.

Not this year. In 2023, after more than six years of budget cuts, salary freezes and government austerity, the Tories — well behind in public opinion polls in Winnipeg — are trying desperately to convince voters amid a looming provincial election they are now a party of big spenders with bottomless pockets.

The former NDP government did the same thing prior to the 2016 election, although there was a 90-day blackout period in place at the time (where government is prohibited by law from making announcements). In 2021, the Tories shortened the blackout period to 60 days.

The difference between 2016 and now is the NDP were always big spenders; they weren’t trying to convince voters otherwise. The Tories, by contrast, are attempting a political metamorphosis.

The Stefanson government announced a staggering $726.2-million worth of goodies in July, including new schools, business subsidies, more money for health-care workers, and increased hospital funding.

In the first three days of August, prior to the blackout (which began Friday), the Tories announced an additional $186.3 million in spending, plus a gargantuan $1.5 billion in new capital upgrades at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg.

“Total spending announcements for July and the first three days of August: $2.41 billion. That’s more than the provincial Department of Families spends in an entire year.”

Total spending announcements for July and the first three days of August: $2.41 billion.

That’s more than the provincial Department of Families, which includes social services and child welfare, spends in an entire year ($2.3-billion budget in 2023-24).

Will it work? Does bribing voters with their own money convince people to re-elect incumbent governments, even after two terms of budget cuts and crippling austerity?

Sometimes.

After all, most people don’t pay close attention to the day-to-day machinery of politics. Most are probably not aware, or even care, about government exploiting the power of incumbency to gain an unfair advantage in an election. It’s not something many Manitobans talk about around the water cooler or campfire.

They just see government spending a lot of money and hope they might benefit from some of it.

It’s the same with the pre-election, taxpayer-funded government advertising the Stefanson government has been running in recent weeks. Under the Tories’ election law changes, government is allowed to continue pre-existing government advertising during the blackout period. (The previous law banned such ads.)

Premier Heather Stefanson said Thursday her government will end most ads during the blackout period, but not all of them. The Tories plan to continue running ads reminding people government is handing out so-called “carbon tax” cheques and education property tax rebates.

There’s also no sign they’re removing any of the taxpayer-funded propaganda on the provincial government website.

“Real results, concrete action,” reads the government of Manitoba’s homepage, which provides endless links and images highlighting the massive spending announcements made by government in recent months. It’s a clear — and entirely unethical — use of tax dollars to gain an unfair advantage prior to an election.

Will the spending ads help the Tories endear themselves to voters, especially in Winnipeg, where they would have to close the gap with the NDP to get re-elected Oct. 3?

Probably. People are impressionable. The Tories know that and they’re hoping to exploit it.

But what of the substance of this newfound commitment to investing in health care, education and infrastructure? Have the Tories turned over a new leaf? Is this a genuine and long-term commitment to providing enhanced and sustainable funding to important public services?

It might be — if the Tories acknowledged starving health care, education and other front-line services of stable funding over the past six years (while borrowing money to cut taxes ) was wrong and they’ve had a change of heart.

They’ve made no such confession. There’s been no penance for their poor and often reckless decisions to chop or freeze funding for hospitals, public schools, municipalities and infrastructure projects.

That can only mean they believe those policies were the right ones, and would likely revert back to them if re-elected.

It’s hard to imagine that leopard changing its spots.

tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca