Heather Stefanson MLA Tuxedo

PCs IMPLORE SELINGER TO HIT THE BRAKES ON GAS TAX HIKE

Latest NDP Broken Promise will adversely affect every Manitoban: Stefanson

“Our plan is a 5 year plan to ensure that we have future prosperity without any tax increases and we’ll deliver on that. We’re ahead of schedule right now.”

- Greg Selinger 1.0 making firm election promise during CJOB Leaders Debate, September 12, 2011

“…yes we did generate some more revenue for solving some of the issues that we have with coming out of the deficit.”

- Greg Selinger 2.0, sort-of-admitting he broke his promise, on CJOB, April 18, 2012

Greg Selinger’s broken promise to Manitobans will hit hard at the gas pumps starting tomorrow with the gas tax increasing by 2.5 cents per litre.

“The NDP’s broken promise on tax increases will affect every Manitoban starting tomorrow,” says PC Finance Critic Heather Stefanson. “This tax increase will not be limited to Manitobans who drive vehicles, but will impact anyone who uses public transportation and purchases imported goods. The price of bringing groceries and other goods into the province just went up, and that cost will undoubtedly be passed onto consumers.”

Starting May 1^st, gas taxes in Manitoba will rise from 11.5 to 14 cents per litre.

“The NDP promised they wouldn’t raise taxes in the last election. Yet Greg Selinger knew full well the state of the province’s finances and that he’d be implementing tax increases in the new year to pay for his out-of-control spending,” said Stefanson. “In the heat of an election, the truth lost out and Selinger made promises he had no intention of keeping.”

Stefanson urged Greg Selinger and the NDP to reverse their decision to break their promise to Manitoba families. The PCs introduced a five-point alternative plan that included creating jobs and eliminating red tape instead of raising taxes on hard-working families.

“It’s not too late. They can still do the right thing, support our plan and reverse their tax increases on hard-working Manitobans,” said Stefanson.

PCs INTRODUCE INCREASED TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

Time to end NDP dishonesty about tax increases and broken promises: Stefanson

As Greg Selinger continues to soak hard-working Manitobans with tax increases and cost hikes, the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party introduces a bill that would force this NDP government to come clean with its tax increases and increased user fees.

“The NDP are trying to duck accountability for its $1.12 billion deficit and hide the truth about tax and fee increases from Manitobans,” said PC Finance Critic Heather Stefanson. “Our bill would make public disclosure a natural requirement.”

The Increased Transparency and Accountability Act is the first Bill in the Progressive Conservative Five-Point alternative plan to NDP tax hikes. This bill would require the annual budget to include a fee schedule of all fees charged by core government and government agencies. It would also indicate the amount of last year’s fee, and the proposed new fee for the current year.

“It’s time this government becomes honest about tax and fee increases,” said Stefanson. “The NDP relies on backdoor tax increases, such as increased user fees, to fund their spending addiction. Manitobans deserve transparency and accountability.”

Manitobans have the right to know exactly how tax and fee increases are going to impact them, she added.

“People in this province are fed up with Selinger’s fake five-year plans and broken election promises,” said Stefanson.

HANSARD EXCERPT-APRIL 24TH, 2012

Bill 211-The Increased Transparency and Accountability Act

Government Support

Mrs. Heather Stefanson (Tuxedo): It was my pleasure earlier to introduce Bill 211, The Increased Transparency and Accountability Act, to introduce this bill as part of our five-point alternative plan to the NDP's tax hikes and broken promises to Manitobans.

Mr. Speaker, Bill 211 makes sure all Manitobans know what tax and user fee increases are by mandating the budget papers to contain a schedule that breaks out all user fees–fee increases and tax-base expansions.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister of Finance: Will he support more transparency in the budget process in Manitoba by supporting Bill 211?

* (14:00)

Hon. Stan Struthers (Minister of Finance): First of all, Mr. Speaker, we don't need to take lectures on transparency and accountability from a group of people who, when they were in government, had one set of books that sat on top of the desk and then another set of books that were hidden underneath the desk. That's not being transparent. That's not being accountable. That–that's their history. It's awfully hard to shake that history, isn't it?

Mrs. Stefanson: In Budget 2012, the NDP broke their promise by raising taxes by $148 million for Manitobans. User fees are going up $114 million or 22 per cent from last year. Birth, death and marriage fees are going up, child abuse registry checks are going up, land titles documentation fees are going up, to name just a few, Mr. Speaker.

The problem, Mr. Speaker, aside from an NDP government breaking its promise to Manitobans, is that none of these fees were announced in the budget speech or outlined on a fee-by-fee basis in the budget. Will this–what this bill calls for is exactly that.

Will the Minister of Finance support transparency in the budget process in Manitoba and support Bill 211, yes or no?

Mr. Struthers: Well, Mr. Speaker, the–our approach has been very clear. Our commitments have been very clear. They've been transparent. We don't mind being held to account by the people of Manitoba.

We have a balanced approach to coming back into balance in 2014 that involves controlling expenditures and that involves fair and modest increases on the revenue side.

And, Mr. Speaker, you know, if they would only do their homework, they would know that in the lock-up pre to the budget, we handed to people in the lock-up, in the media, a list of the fees in a number of different departments that were contained in the budgets.

So I would ask the–my critic across the way to do her homework and get her facts straight before she comes in the House.

Mrs. Stefanson: Mr. Speaker, when the government moved to summary budgets, they didn't include the listing of remuneration over $50,000 of Crown corporations and government reporting entities in volume 2 of the Public Accounts book. This should have been done, but it has yet to happen. Bill 211 calls on the government to ensure that this does happen.

Will he support 211–Bill 211 that creates more transparency and accountability for Manitobans? Will he support this bill? If not, why not? What is he trying to hide from Manitobans?

Mr. Struthers: Well, Mr. Speaker, I'm glad she's worked her way up to volume 2. I can't wait till she gets to volume 4 where she can answer her own question. It's already contained there. It is contained there, the information that she seeks.

But, Mr. Speaker, I want to make it clear–I want to be clear. If the members opposite–if members opposite have some advice and they have some suggestions on how to make the budget process better or actual content of the budget, if they have some ideas, I'm more than willing to sit and talk with them about that. It's been very clear. We've been very transparent atour commitments. We're open to listening to ideas from wherever they come from. So I look forward to that. If they come up with something good, I'm all ears.

As Greg Selinger prepares to soak Manitoba families with further tax increases and cost hikes through his April 17^th budget, the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party is outlining real policy steps that could make a positive difference without increasing taxes. Manitoba PC Finance Critic Heather Stefanson (Tuxedo), together with her colleagues in the Manitoba PC Caucus, outlined five alternative priorities for the government to consider as the session resumes with the budget.

“Greg Selinger has run Manitoba’s finances into the ground because of his spending addiction and inability to stick to his own budgets,” says Stefanson. “We have already seen his solution – pass the costs on to Manitobans in the form of higher Hydro rates, higher day care fees, and higher education taxes. More tax increases are pending. But there is another way to clean up this mess – a positive way that Manitoba can follow and we are planning to highlight this approach as the session in the legislature resumes.”

After listening to hard-working Manitobans during a pre-budget consultation, Stefanson outlined a five-point alternative plan for the NDP that will help control spending and create jobs by improving Manitoba’s business climate without raising costs for Manitoba families:

1 – Commit to Honesty and Transparency in the Budget – no more fake five year plans, no more massaging the books to delay $600 million worth of deficits.

2 – Commit to Eliminating Red Tape – embrace the proposals from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and other groups to start tracking red tape, and reducing it.

3 – Commit to a Program Spending Review –Why can’t we ask the same tough questions here that other provinces have asked?

4 – Review Hydro’s Capital Program – The Public Utilities Board has called for this. Hydro has already raised rates on an “emergency” basis to pay for added costs brought on by NDP political interference. Meanwhile we have a $20 billion Hydro capital plan resting on the political assumptions of Greg Selinger and only $7 billion of predicted import revenues. It’s time to ask the right questions at Hydro.

5 – Immediately Join the New West Partnership – The New West Partnership has been operating since July 2010, but Manitoba is still alone on the sidelines. We should embrace free trade by joining the New West Partnership to create more private sector growth and job opportunities for Manitobans.

Stefanson, together with Manitoba PC Regulatory Reform Critic Mavis Taillieu (Morris), Manitoba PC Hydro Critic Reg Helwer (Brandon West), and Manitoba PC Entrepreneurship, Training and Trade Critic Dennis Smook (La Verendrye) will be outlining these alternatives throughout the approaching session, introducing Private Members’ Bills so the NDP will have a chance to put their votes where their mouths are.

“We have a positive alternative to offer Manitobans, an alternative to the endless cycle of Greg Selinger’s debt-fuelled spending addictions and whining about non-existant ‘cuts’ from Ottawa,” added Stefanson. “We’ll see starting next week which path Greg Selinger and the NDP are interested in following – the path to better management and a stronger private sector economy, or the shorter path to the wallets of Manitoba families.”

Unofficial provincial taxes have already increased under Selinger – education property taxes are soaring thanks to the NDP, families are paying more for child care thanks to the NDP, and Manitoba Hydro has had to apply for emergency rate increases while withholding a refund from customers because of NDP political interference. Stefanson is concerned to see what further tax increases – official and unofficial – will come from Greg Selinger next week.

You might not realize it, but thanks to Greg Selinger’s NDP every Manitoban is walking around with an extra $20,772 on their pile of debt – and it’s not from an extended Christmas shopping binge. This is the amount every single Manitoban now owes as their share of Manitoba’s $26 billion provincial debt.

Greg Selinger’s NDP is on course to add $2.18 billion – yes that is billion with a ‘b’ – to Manitoba’s provincial debt this year – money Manitoba families will have to pay back in the form of increased taxes, cuts to frontline services, or both. The debt is increasing partly because Greg Selinger is on track to run a deficit of over $1 billion this year. This is on top of deficits of $298 million last year, and $200 million the year before. Just think about it – each family of four in Manitoba now owes over $83,088 through the provincial government, on top of their own credit cards, mortgages, student loans and lines of credit.

Greg Selinger has tried to blame everyone and everything else for his mismanagement. He has blamed Mother Nature – pointing the finger at the flood of 2011. This was a serious flood, but spending on the flood comprises only a small part of Greg Selinger’s record deficit. Greg Selinger has tried to attack the Federal Government for a lack of support – even though Manitoba has received a record $35 billion from the Federal Government since 1999.

The truth is that Greg Selinger cannot manage the budget, and we are all paying the price. He spends the money and sends you the bill - $20,772 worth of debt for each and every Manitoban. And what are you getting for this? Are you able to see an ER doctor faster? No – the ambulances are still stacked up in the parking lots. Are your kids learning more? No – the results show Manitoba students falling behind the rest of Canada. Are you safer? No – Manitoba has just finished yet another year as the violent crime capital of Canada.

The NDP say they will balance the budget by 2014. They have never once considered a review of their spending practices. They refuse to take measures that could improve our economic performance, such as cutting red tape, or joining the New West Partnership. With a deficit in excess of $1 billion right now, the only way the NDP will balance the budget is by raising taxes.

It’s time for Manitobans to tell this NDP government enough is enough. Today’s debt will be tomorrow’s taxes, and that day is fast approaching – April 17.

— Stefanson is the finance critic for the Progressive Conservatives of Manitoba.

For the first time in Manitoba history, the annual deficit will exceed $1 billion based on the NDP’s third-quarter financials released today. The total deficit, which includes all costs for 2011/12 fiscal year, is $1.12 billion.

“The NDP’s spending addiction is catching up with them. They’re digging us into a deep hole and leaving Manitoba taxpayers on the hook,” says PC Finance Critic Heather Stefanson.

Manitobans hoping for a sign that this NDP government would stop the out-of-control spending and get the province on the right track will be left disappointed once again, she added.

“The NDP spent every dollar received from record-high transfer payments from Ottawa and left no money in reserve to deal with emergencies,” said Stefanson. “We don’t blame government for the flood or the cost of fighting it. Our concern is their lack of planning.”

“Throughout the election the NDP told Manitobans the deficit wouldn’t be that bad. Then, once the numbers started to come out, they said the deficit was because of the flood. But the flood isn’t the problem. The problem is the NDP’s poor management and spending habits,” said.

It’s time for Greg Selinger and Stan Struthers to tell Manitobans how he’s going to dig us out of this hole, said Stefanson.