Manitoba NDP says unspent government funds would cover more than $500M in new spending
Ian Froese | CBC News | Posted: September 28, 2023 10:23 PM | Last Updated: September 29, 2023
Party says it wouldn't have to raise taxes to cover $520M to $608M cost for promises in platform
The Manitoba New Democrats say they can afford the new spending they've promised during the election campaign thanks to existing contingencies in the provincial budget.
The NDP released a costed platform Thursday that outlines between $520 million to $608 million in new spending for each of the next four years, if the party is elected on Oct. 3.
That new spending will mainly be paid for by redirecting funding the Progressive Conservative government had budgeted but never spent, according to the NDP.
For example, the 2023-24 budget sets aside $520 million for "contingencies and unanticipated events" that NDP Leader Wab Kinew says his government would use to cover new spending, mainly in health care.
In addition, the party anticipates it would have an extra $66 million to spend in the upcoming fiscal year by redirecting other funds the Tories have left unspent, along with a return on infrastructure investments and ending the practice of giving education property tax rebates to some out-of-province property owners.
"This plan is a responsible and a transparent approach to using the resources that you invest in your provincial government so we can fix health care, so we can lower costs for you and your family," Kinew told reporters from a highrise balcony at West Broadway Commons in Winnipeg, overlooking the Manitoba Legislative Building.
The provincial government would still be able rely on other areas of the budget to cover unforeseen expenses, Kinew stressed, such as the $585-million fiscal stabilization fund, commonly referred to as the rainy day fund.
Kinew said he isn't concerned about the province having less fiscal breathing room. Throughout the election campaign, he's alleged the Tory government has used contingencies to splurge on new spending before the release of every budget.
"We've struck a balance here," Kinew said.
"We're still preserving a cushion to respond to unforeseen events that will inevitably arise," but his party would also "ensure that there's more transparency by spelling out" spending in greater detail, he said.
The NDP would accomplish its goals without raising taxes, he said.
Platform forecasts $1M surplus after 4 years
The party's platform forecasts the province will have a razor-thin surplus of $1 million dollars by the end of a four-year NDP term in office.
In the 2024-25 fiscal year, the NDP is projecting $582.5 million in new expenditures.
The party is promising almost $220 million of new spending on health care, including $125 million to recruit and retain new staff. The major expense of reopening emergency departments at three Winnipeg hospitals isn't on the books until the third year of the NDP's economic forecast, when the party plans to reopen the ER at Victoria General Hospital.
Other big-ticket items in the first year include $165 million to cut the provincial tax on gas for six months and a loss of $37.5 million in revenue from the Crown-owned Manitoba Hydro. The utility would retain that money so an NDP government could advocate for Manitoba's independent energy regulator to freeze electricity rates.
There's also $73 million promised for education, including spending to ensure smaller class sizes in the early grades, and to hire more teachers and education assistants.
Outgoing Progressive Conservative MLA Shannon Martin argued the NDP is "severely underestimating" the actual costs of its promises and would be forced, if elected, to raise the PST.
The Tories estimate the NDP's promises would cost $3.3 billion over several years. Their calculation inflates some of the NDP's figures, such as assuming a New Democratic government would pay the full cost for a potential search of the Prairie Green landfill for the remains of two First Nations women — a search the NDP has said it supports, but for which it has not made a specific funding commitment.
The Tories' estimate also treats a renters' tax credit as a new NDP commitment, when the party has actually said it will raise the amount of an existing rebate.
Martin said the PCs put contingencies in this year's budget to prepare for the numerous labour agreements the government completed, and for any other unforeseen events.
"Contingencies are responsible fiscal management, not free money for Wab Kinew to spend on his election promises," Martin said in an email.
Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont chastised the NDP for following the tax cuts and balanced budget strategy the Tories have campaigned on.
"Instead of improving services for Manitobans, they are draining the contingency fund. This is fiscal insanity, and a total betrayal of what they spend months saying in the legislature," Lamont said in a statement.
The NDP is also earmarking $1.6 million over four years on an independent inquiry into the province's response to the COVID-19 pandemic — a much smaller amount than the $14 million spent on the province's last major inquiry, which examined the death of Phoenix Sinclair, a five-year-old girl who died in 2005 after slipping through the cracks of the child welfare system.
Kinew said an NDP government would explore how best to approach an inquiry.