Surveys suggest tax cuts won’t woo voters By: Editorial Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Wednesday, Apr. 19, 2023

Opinion

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This article was published 19/04/2023 (872 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative party unveiled its new election-style slogan this past weekend: “Fighting for Manitobans.” The rallying cry was shared with party faithful at the Tories’ annual general meeting in downtown Winnipeg, as the party gets set to do battle in a scheduled Oct. 3 provincial election.

“Manitobans need our Progressive Conservative team to fight for them,” Premier Heather Stefanson said during her keynote address.

However, fighting for Manitobans means different things to different people. For the Tories, it means fighting for individual rights, rather than focusing on the collective good of Manitoban society. To that end, the PC party is planning to make tax cuts one of the key planks of its campaign platform, even as it continues to run deficits and underfund front-line services.

“Manitobans deserve to keep more of their hard-earned money because we know that Manitobans know best how to spend their money, not government,” said Ms. Stefanson.

That’s not what Manitobans have been telling government.

When asked earlier this year during the province’s pre-budget consultations what they believed government’s highest priority should be, 86 per cent of respondents listed “improving the health-care system.” Their second choice was reducing surgical and diagnostic wait times. Only 41 per cent chose “making life more affordable,” which could mean anything from tax relief to reducing Manitoba Hydro rates or cutting child-care fees.

When asked specifically about fixing health care versus affordability, 50 per cent of Manitobans said government should find a balance between the two. Only 14 per cent said they wanted tax cuts. Even fewer — five per cent — agreed government should send out rebate cheques to help people with inflation (something the Stefanson government did last month, which included payouts to families earning well in excess of six figures).

When asked specifically about fixing health care versus affordability, 50 per cent of Manitobans said government should find a balance between the two. Only 14 per cent said they wanted tax cuts.

Even the business community, which has historically favoured tax cuts, doesn’t consider it a high priority right now. A Probe Research Inc. survey of Manitoba businesses in February found taxation was the top issue for only eight per cent of respondents. The most pressing concerns were increased operating costs and inflation, followed by attracting and retaining staff.

It appears very few people are clamouring for tax cuts, especially after seven years of government cuts and freezes to front-line services.

So why have the Tories put so many of their electoral eggs in the tax-cut basket? They are, perhaps, trying to create a wedge issue between themselves and the Opposition NDP in the lead-up to an election. The PC party has already begun a campaign of fear by claiming the NDP would raise taxes if they win government in October, much like the party did under former premier Greg Selinger.

However, there is no evidence, nor a plausible political argument to be made, to support that theory.

The PC party has already begun a campaign of fear by claiming the NDP would raise taxes if they win government in October, much like the party did under former premier Greg Selinger.

The NDP, under current leader Wab Kinew, allowed the Tories’ budget implementation bill (which includes income-tax cuts) to pass through the legislative process earlier this month. The NDP had the option of holding back the bill until the fall, which would have effectively killed it once an election was called.

If government’s own surveys are correct, most Manitobans are not in favour of keeping “more of their hard-earned money” if it means hospital waiting lists, school class sizes and government debt will continue to grow. The Tories are misreading the public if they believe the individual benefits of a tax cut, at the expense of the common good, will woo voters their way.