The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is red-flagging Manitoba’s newly-released budget, saying spending continues to be on the rise.
The CTF points out the provincial government has tabled a larger deficit than it projected in last year’s budget, pushing back its core balanced budget date from 2014-15 to 2015-16.
Spending is up $318 million, according to the taxpayer watchdog group.
“A few years ago Saskatchewan actually reduced spending to get help balance their books,” said CTF Prairie director Colin Craig. “Here, spending is up 2.8 percent and they’re trying to call it a cut. This government’s inability to reduce spending is why our debt is climbing by $47 per second.”
The CTF points out the numerous increases in user fees and taxes, such as those to gasoline, tobacco, vehicle registration and services now being taxed PST over $50.
“The province made some positive moves to reduce the bureaucracy,” Craig added. “Unfortunately, we needed to see a much more aggressive approach to cut the deficit.”
