Manitoba - Sucking families dry: A breakdown of where your t

[styky]

Sucking families dry: A breakdown of where your tax dollars go

By Tom Brodbeck ,Winnipeg Sun

First posted: Sunday, December 11, 2011 09:28 PM CST | Updated: Sunday, December 11, 2011 10:39 PM CST
You’ve paid your taxes to the provincial government this year. So now it’s time to find out how all the hundreds — or even thousands — of dollars you sent to Broadway were spent over the past 12 months.

We normally break down government spending for readers using big-picture numbers, like tens of millions for this and a few billion for that.

But for the first time we’re breaking down where your tax dollars were expected to go in 2011 — by category — for an average Manitoba family of five.

In other words, how much did the family pay in taxes and where specifically did that money go?

We use a two-income family of five who earned $75,000 this year. That family is projected to pay an average of $5,615 in what we call major taxes to the
province — income taxes, the provincial sales tax and gasoline tax. That doesn’t include what the family pays in federal taxes.

We use the provincial government’s own base numbers from their 2011 budget. And we break down the departments and categories into 26 sections
so you can see exactly where your tax dollars went.

Health care, no big surprise, was by far the most expensive item on the government bill. The family of five paid an average of $2,437 to Manitoba Health, representing 43% of the total taxes paid to the province.

Second was education — public schools, not including post-secondary education — came in at $786. And third was family services, which includes child welfare costs.

Perhaps most stunning is how debt servicing — the interest taxpayers pay on government’s growing debt — is the eighth most expensive category out of the 26. The average family of five was projected to pay $128 to the province just to service the debt.

That’s more than the $112 the family paid for the province’s Department of Agriculture.

Of course, the province draws revenues from other sources beyond the major taxes we pay. There are other discretionary taxes and levies Manitobans pay to the province, including tobacco taxes, the Land Transfer Tax and liquor taxes. The province also takes in hundreds of millions a year in gambling profits.

The single biggest source of revenue, though, doesn’t come from Manitoba at all. It comes from the federal government, who — through a myriad of transfers to the province — covers about 34% of the provincial government’s budget. That includes transfers for health care, social services and post-secondary education. It also includes a lump sum of about $2 billion in equalization payments from Ottawa. In other words, we wouldn’t have the standard of living we have in this province were it not for net contributors like Saskatchewan and Alberta, who do not receive equalization payments.

Meanwhile, don’t expect to pay any less in provincial taxes next year. The government is spending about a half-billion dollars more than it’s taking in right now. So it’s unlikely the family of five will see any tax relief in 2012. If anything, they may be asked to pay a little more...............................http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/12/11/s ... dollars-go

[styky]

THANKS, OTTAWA
The provincial government relies a great deal on transfers from the federal government to pay its bills. In fact, 34% of the Manitoba government’s revenues come directly from Ottawa. Here’s the breakdown:

Province’s own-source revenue: $7.126 billion
Transfers from federal government: $3.647 billion
Total: $10.773 billion

Shouldn't this be thanks Alberta not thanks Ottawa.

[Ben Kenobi]

Wow. 36 percent from outside? That's bad. Even BC gets fed transfers, and I'd like to see that cut off. BC doesn't need em.

[styky]

Filling the blanks in Selinger's speech


By Tom Brodbeck ,Winnipeg Sun

First posted: Thursday, December 15, 2011 07:33 PM CST
If you listen to Premier Greg Selinger speak, you’d think Manitoba doesn’t have a worry in the world.

I’m all for positive spin. And I know politicians want to put their governments in the best light possible.

By the same token though, you can’t solve the province’s problems unless you admit they exist. And they do exist.

We’re all happy the Winnipeg Jets are back in Manitoba — ecstatic actually — and we’re relieved we have a diversified economy that doesn’t experience the booms and busts of other jurisdictions.

But Manitoba has some serious problems Selinger conveniently ignored in his state of the province address Thursday. Which means he either doesn’t want to confront those problems or he has no ideas on how to solve them.

Take crime, for example. Selinger didn’t breathe a word about what is easily Manitoba’s single worst blight right now. Winnipeg is the Violent Crime Capital of Canada, organized crime has taken a foothold in this city and we’re hearing more and more about random knifings, shootings and beatings on the streets of Winnipeg, especially downtown.

We didn’t expect Selinger to focus the majority of his speech on Manitoba’s crime problem. But he didn’t even mention it, which means solving it is not a priority for him.

High school dropout rates are apparently not a priority for Selinger either. He failed to report that Manitoba has one of the worst dropout rates in the country. He did say what a wonderful job his government is doing on education generally. But he said nothing about what Manitoba can do to improve its extremely poor graduation rates.

Nor did he give us a blueprint on how his government plans to get the province out of record debt.

The province has been spending wildly beyond its means for years, racking up massive debt and mortgaging the future of our grandchildren.

The province’s debt as a percentage of GDP increased in 2011 for the fourth year in a row, something Selinger didn’t dare mention in front of a Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce luncheon crowd.

Nor did he state what plans he has to manage that debt.

What we do know is the provincial debt will worsen in 2011 and 2012 with this year’s extreme flooding.

We’re not going to blame government for a natural disaster. But we will hold them accountable for not having their finances in order to deal with unforeseen expenditures like extreme flooding. Selinger admitted Thursday that flooding costs will cause the deficit to go up this year.

But he didn’t say how he plans to manage that in future budgets. He also didn’t tell us why his government still only has a part-time finance minister or when he plans to appoint a full-time one.

Meanwhile, despite all the glowing words from the premier about Manitoba’s economy, he failed to lay out a strategy on how to deal with the reality that our economy is falling rapidly behind those of other Western provinces.

Provinces like Saskatchewan and Alberta are literally kicking our butts on economic growth, job creation, taxes and earnings.

Selinger didn’t even mention that as something his government plans to address. I guess it’s easier to keep your head in the sand on the big-picture items.

The premier gave Manitobans his version of where the province stands as of December 2011.

We thought we’d fill in the blanks on some of the areas he missed.



What you didn’t hear at the state of the province address:

Violent Crime — Manitoba has by far the worst violent crime in Canada. Manitoba had a crime severity index of 162.3 in 2010, the highest in the country, according to Statistics Canada. The national average was 88.9.

Record Debt — Manitoba government has reached a record debt of $14.8 billion. That’s up from $10.5 billion in 2007. The province’s debt as a percentage of GDP grew for the fourth year in a row, hitting 26.2% in 2011.

Highest Taxes — Manitoba still has the highest personal income taxes west of Quebec. A two-income family of four earning $60,000 paid $3,042 in provincial income taxes in 2011. In Saskatchewan, that family paid $725.

The Bleeding — Manitoba is still losing thousands a people a year to other provinces. Net interprovincial migration losses in Manitoba for 2010 were 2,421, up from 2,373 in 2009.

The Kicking — Manitoba is getting its butt kicked in economic growth this year in Western Canada. Manitoba’s GDP is expected to grow 2.5% this year. Saskatchewan and Alberta’s economies are projected to grow 4.5% and 4% respectively.

Dropouts — Manitoba has one of the worst high school drop-out rates in Canada. Between 2007-10, Manitoba’s dropout rate was 11.5%, second worse only to Quebec. The national average was 8.9%.

[Jean]

THANKS, OTTAWA
The provincial government relies a great deal on transfers from the federal government to pay its bills. In fact, 34% of the Manitoba government’s revenues come directly from Ottawa. Here’s the breakdown:

Province’s own-source revenue: $7.126 billion
Transfers from federal government: $3.647 billion
Total: $10.773 billion

Shouldn't this be thanks Alberta not thanks Ottawa.

You forgot to say thanks Saskatchewan

[styky]

Yes thanks Saskatchewan

I find this fact unbelievable......

Highest Taxes — Manitoba still has the highest personal income taxes west of Quebec. A two-income family of four earning $60,000 paid $3,042 in provincial income taxes in 2011. In Saskatchewan, that family paid $725.

And Yet Saskatchewan is a healthy province financially. You would think that Manitoba would be looking to them from some financial advise but no, better to just beating the Manitoba taxpayer and spending what you haven't got.

[styky]

Selinger's deficit shenanigans

Premier blames fiscal squeeze on flood — it’s really wasteful spending

Kevin Engstrom_op
By Kevin Engstrom ,Winnipeg Sun

First posted: Saturday, December 17, 2011 08:03 PM CST | Updated: Saturday, December 17, 2011 08:18 PM CST
It’d be understandable if the province’s projected deficit more than doubled if the extra money was spent on dealing with the flood.

After all, this year’s flood was a disaster that lasted longer than most Hollywood marriages. Who could possibly get worked up about spending money to protect people’s homes and cottages? Nobody.

Problem is, the ballooning deficit can’t be entirely blamed on the flood.

Sure, the cost of the flood is considerable, with the current $841-million price tag only going to go up as time goes on, and is the source for some of the budgetary shortfall.

But what Premier Greg Selinger and his friends around the cabinet table conveniently forgot to tell everyone in releasing the province’s quarterly fiscal report on Friday is spending went up by roughly $200 million even without the cash doled out on the flood.

If you think that tasty little tidbit is at odds with the government’s supposed commitment to fiscal responsibility, you’re not alone. Heck, the Tories even brought out the late Hugh McFadyen to diss the NDP government for its fiscal irresponsibility (OK, Hugh’s not technically dead, but his political career is).

Hugh is completely right, even if his campaign was so dreadfully wrong. But the NDP wasn’t just irresponsible here, they were a tad arrogant, too.

This is the government that preaches at all of us, correctly, to exercise fiscal prudence in these rough economic times. This is the government that sweet-talked its unions into accepting a wage freeze because it needed to do some financial belt-tightening.

And then they turn around and carelessly spend taxpayer money like they’re Nicolas Cage on a bender, not realizing the hypocrisy of it all.

As Pat Martin might tweet, that’s jackboot s---.

Listen, Greg, we don’t expect you to value balanced budgets as much as we do here at the Winnipeg Sun. We know you’re into big government and are relying on transfer payments and increased revenue — aka taxes — to solve all your fiscal woes.

Make no mistake, we don’t like that wing-and-a-prayer fiscal plan, but we understand it. Don’t insult our intelligence by blaming your fiscal problems solely on the flood, though.

You should just admit you can’t help but recklessly spend taxpayer money, that there’s no funding request you can say no to.

Saying that probably wouldn’t be politically wise. But it’d at least be a little more honest than the half-truths you’re trying to sell Manitobans right now................http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/12/17/s ... henanigans

[styky]

Welfare fills gap as jobless wait for EI
Federal government to blame for tardy processing, advocate says

By: Bruce Owen

Posted: 12/30/2011 7:26 AM
MORE Manitobans are collecting welfare despite the province having one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, the most recent provincial numbers say.

And experts say one reason is due to the unemployed being forced to apply for provincial social assistance because of increasing delays in processing federal Employment Insurance claims.

The number of people who receive employment and income assistance rose to 35,418 in November from 34,045 a year earlier, statistics show.

Neil Cohen, executive director of Winnipeg's Community Unemployed Help Centre, said it's becoming more common for jobless Manitobans to collect provincial assistance because of the length of time it takes to get Employment Insurance claims processed. In some cases, it takes up to six weeks or longer.

"They're without money. They're waiting for two or three months before they get a cheque and they have no source of income," Cohen said Thursday. "They have no place to turn for financial support."

Cohen said the federal government is responsible for the delay in EI benefits because it has cut staff at its processing centres in the past four years.

"Instead, the minister responsible for EI (Human Resources and Skills Development Minister Diane Finley) has repeatedly stuck to her script," he said. "For the last four years the script has been that, 'We're moving to an automated system. This will help us provide more efficient services.'

"But they moved to the automated system four years ago and they have failed to get the bugs out, and they have failed to put measures in place that will address the backlog."

The Globe and Mail reported this week that in October 360,481 unemployed Canadians were waiting for their EI claims to be processed, up from 181,931 in October 2007. That increase took place as temporary and permanent staff in processing centres were reduced by 13 per cent over the same period. Plus, hundreds of additional processing agents who were hired during the economic downturn of 2008 and 2009 have since been let go or have left without being replaced.

"They're laying off staff. They're closing call centres. They're closing claims-processing centres. They've prohibited staff from working overtime, so yes, there's a fix, but it's within the powers of the federal government to provide that fix," Cohen said.

Earlier this month, Statistics Canada reported the number of Winnipeggers collecting EI benefits had plummeted by 28 per cent from a year earlier -- 4,220 unemployed Winnipeggers received EI benefits in October -- 1,640 people less from a year earlier. The drop was the 14th consecutive month of year-over-year decreases.

Statistics Canada also said the number of Manitobans receiving EI benefits declined by 8.4 per cent, or 660 people, from a year ago to 7,230.

However, that number doesn't reflect claimants who were waiting for their paperwork to be processed.

Cohen said those collecting provincial assistance have to pay it back if and when they get their EI benefits approved, so it is not a huge drain on Manitoba's public purse. But it adds stress to a person's life having to deal with two bureaucracies to collect benefits for which they are entitled.

"Mental-health issues are exacerbated by people being without money, particularly at this time of year," he said.

"Another consequence for the province is health-care costs."

Cohen said one silver lining is the number of people using the Community Unemployed Help Centre has remained stable for the past few years, mostly because the province's unemployment rate has also been generally stable.

Manitoba lost 6,500 part-time jobs in November, but created 4,700 full-time jobs. The net loss of 1,800 positions boosted the number of unemployed workers in the province to 36,100 and drove the provincial unemployment rate up to 5.5 per cent from 5.2 per cent in October.

That gave Manitoba the third-lowest jobless rate in the country after Alberta's five per cent and Saskatchewan's 5.1 per cent.

"Manitoba has been quite fortunate that we have a relatively stable economy with low unemployment," Cohen said.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 30, 2011 A4
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/ ... 20573.html

[styky]

Selinger’s welfare state
Would rather receive a handout than fixing fiscal mess of NDP’s own creation

Kevin Engstrom_op
By Kevin Engstrom ,Winnipeg Sun

First posted: Saturday, March 31, 2012 06:29 PM CDT

Nobody is ever all that happy when a government unveils a fiscal blueprint for the year ahead.

Political opponents will always attempt to score points by declaring a government’s budget to be some sort of combination of cruel, reckless, and irresponsible.

Special interest groups, meanwhile, will invariably be notorious grouches, with some criticizing the government for not caring enough about a particular issue while others lament it cares far more than it should.

In other words, being finance minister is a pretty thankless gig.

Of course, it’s hard to take any of the hyperbole very seriously. There’s little chance any of these people would ever be happy on budget day. Like journalists, they’re professional complainers.

Having said all that, the whine coming from the premier’s office on Broadway on Thursday was way over the top.

In case you missed it, the fourth most popular premier in all the land, Greg Selinger, tried to sell media on the story that the Harper government doesn’t care much about Manitoba. For a third straight year, Selinger says, Ottawa isn’t increasing Manitoba’s share of federal transfers.

Technically, that’s an accurate statement. But it doesn’t come close to painting an accurate picture of what’s actually going on.

See, the amount of money the feds give to Manitoba for health care is up nearly 6% this year. Another fund, the Canada Social Transfer, is up nearly 3%. Heck, even the equalization payment is up slightly.

All told, Ottawa will pay for roughly 40% of whatever Selinger and his trusty sidekick, NDP Finance Minister Stan Struthers, promise to spend when the two unveil the provincial budget in a couple weeks. So suggesting the feds are screwing Manitoba over on transfer payments is ridiculous.

What’s really going on here is that Selinger and friends need all the help they can get in cleaning up the fiscal mess they’ve created in the past 12-plus years.

They’ve racked up a $1.1-billion structural deficit that, contrary to what they would have you believe, isn’t solely because of the 2011 flood or a worlwide recession that ended four years ago. It’s because the NDP government has shown a consistent inability to make tough decisions with how it spends taxpayer money.

Instead of getting Manitoba’s financial house in order, they’ve relied on welfare cheques from Ottawa to get by. And they want those cheques to get even bigger.

Like a child, Selinger figures whining and pouting are the best way to getting what he wants. Time will tell whether he’s right.

But it sure would be nice if instead of whining, he’d grow up and develop a long-term plan to reduce our province’s reliance on federal handouts.

Dare to dream, I suppose.

What we've learned

— Someone vandalized a Vic Toews road sign near Steinbach, writing that he “is a bad person.” Somebody in the Bible Belt must have heard the scandalous rumours about his personal life. You know, the one about Vic once drinking wine with his dinner.

— Also, the worst the tagger could say was that Vic’s “a bad person?” Golly gee, it’s adorable what Mennonite kids from the country think is a slur these days.

— Stephen Colbert tweets: “Romney built an elevator in his home for his car. I hope it’s tall enough to fit the dog on top.”

— Justin Stangel tweets: “The OctoMom had posed topless, proving the human body is beautiful … except after having eight kids.”

Top 5

Five things overheard in the Jets lockerroom as they slid out of playoff contention:

5. “Wait ... you mean to tell me it’s not a 65-game season?”

4. “Well, at least now we can focus on what’s important: the new season of Game of Thrones!”

3. “We would have made it if not for being distracted by all the hype for that Trudeau-Brazeau fight.”

2. No No. 2 — writer already missing the soothing voice of Denis Beyak.

1. “It could be worse. At least we’re not the Leafs.”

Steve Holt!

Yes, Arrested Development fans, a fourth season of the cult favourite and a movie are things worth celebrating. The actor who played four-time student body president Steve Holt, Justin Grant Wade, hasn’t been signed on either. Fans have responded by launching an online campaign to get producers to reconsider.

By the numbers: 10

The spot held by Zou Bisou Bisou on the U.S. iTunes chart, as sang by Mad Men’s Megan Draper (Canadian actress Jessica Pare). It’s No. 78 in Canada. The performance, seen on the Season 5 premiere of the Emmy-winning show set in the 1960s, has also been released on vinyl.

Quotable

“I have no talent. I have nothing to offer.”

— Kendra Wilkinson, making a tongue-in-cheek statement that’s actually true, to People.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2012/03/31/s ... fare-state

[styky]

Manitoba, feds lock horns over transfer money
MP denies cut to health, education

By: Mia Rabson
OTTAWA -- Manitoba and the federal government are duking it out over federal transfers.

The rhetoric from both governments after Thursday's budget was heightened with the province insisting Manitoba's share of federal transfers is stagnant and set to drop and Ottawa claiming the opposite is true.

Premier Greg Selinger said Ottawa has failed Manitoba by keeping health and education transfers stagnant for a third straight year.

But Manitoba Conservative MP and cabinet minister Steven Fletcher said Selinger's comments are ridiculous.

"That's just nonsensical," said Fletcher. "We are not cutting health care and education transfers."

Fletcher and the federal government insist the provinces are getting a six per cent increase in health transfers and three per cent for social transfers for education and child programs. Equalization, which Manitoba gets as a "have-not" province, is calculated using an inflation-based formula.

"I would say Manitoba continues to do very well with the transfers," said Fletcher.

According to documents provided by the federal Department of Finance, Manitoba will receive $3.39 billion in federal transfers in 2012-13, exactly the same amount received in 2011-12. Two years ago it was $7 million less.

So, on that front, Selinger is right about the stagnant overall amount. However, the health-care transfer of $1.062 billion is up 5.7 per cent and the Canada Social Transfer of $429 million is up 2.6 per cent. The equalization payment, meanwhile, is up 0.3 per cent.

So on that front Fletcher is right.

The main reason Manitoba's overall total did not change is because three years ago, Ottawa changed the equalization formula and Manitoba's share went down more than 11 per cent in 2010-11.

But to keep provinces from losing money, Ottawa implemented a "transfer protection" payment. That payment has dropped each year as the equalization amount goes back up, but in 2012-13 Manitoba will get $201 million in transfer protection, down from $276 million the year before.

What Manitoba is really worried about is what happens to its health-care transfer in 2014-15, when the current health-care accord runs out and the federal government starts calculating health transfers based solely on population share. Currently, it's a more complex formula that also takes into account income tax differences between the federal and provincial governments.

At that time, Manitoba fears it will lose $30 million from its health-care transfer and sources say Alberta's health share will jump nearly $1 billion and smaller provinces such as Manitoba will lose money.

The federal government will not project what health transfers will look like past this year.

The province already notes federal transfers as a share of provincial spending has fallen. It went from nearly 40 cents out of every dollar a few years ago, to 36.7 cents in 2010-11, and 33.8 cents in 2011-12.

Fletcher issued a warning to Manitoba not to go to war on this issue.

"If the province plays the numbers game, they will lose that battle," he said.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 31, 2012 A4

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/ ... 18665.html

[RedDog]

These are vital and important comments. As I've posted before, Albertans in many cases are doubling up. We're paying transfers to assorted communities elsewhere but then also paying communities here doubling and tripling in size by people who've moved here from their former locations. We're paying double up for the same people. If a family from Manitoba or Nova Scotia moves here, shouldn't their transfer welfare entitlements be reduced back where they came from?

Towns like Red Neck Deer suburbs of Blackfalds and Sylvan Lake have doubled and tripled in size to keep up with overnight infrastructure requirements like streets, sidewalks and schools, but we're still paying transfers to the communities elsewhere in the country those new residents moved from. We're paying for schools where they no longer live.

[styky]

Manitobans should pay attention to what happened to places like Detroit if they want to see what the left being left in charge can do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hhJ_49leBw

[Brown envelope]

The gLiberals in Ontari-owe have made sure we are in a race to the bottom with Manitoba. Thanks to the 416 and 905 for keeping Dolton McGuilty in power.

[styky]

Middle-income families paying second-highest taxes in country
http://www.winnipegsun.com/2012/04/18/m ... in-country
By Tom Brodbeck ,Winnipeg Sun

First posted: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 05:41 PM CDT | Updated: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 06:21 PM CDT
Manitoba’s middle-income families now pay the second-highest income taxes in the country, according to the NDP’s 2012 provincial budget.

Five to 10 years ago Manitoba families with dual-incomes of $60,000 to $75,000 were in the middle of the pack among provinces when it came to how much they paid in provincial income taxes. It wasn’t much to brag about, but at least we weren’t among the highest taxed.

However, Manitoba has been steadily losing ground since then as other provinces cut taxes to make their jurisdictions more competitive, while this province did not.

We began to slip a few years ago when Manitoba became the highest taxed province west of Quebec.

But since then, things have become even bleaker.

Middle-income families in Manitoba now pay the highest income taxes in the country next to Quebec.

Which means middle-income families in all of the Atlantic provinces, Ontario and everywhere west of Manitoba pay lower income taxes than we do.

It’s not good.

For example, a Manitoba family of four with two income earners making $60,000 pays $3,042 in provincial income taxes. That’s second highest in Canada. Only middle-income families in Quebec pay more.

By contrast, that same family in Saskatchewan only pays $725. The income-tax bill for that family is lowest in Ontario at $615. And that includes the health premium families pay in that province.

The tax disparity gets worse as family incomes rise. Instead of rewarding middle-income families for working hard and trying to get ahead, the Manitoba government punishes them by hammering them even harder on taxes.

A two-income family of five earning $75,000 pays $4,165 in provincial income taxes, also the second highest in the country.

So here’s a family with one earner bringing home $40,000 and the other $35,000 — not rich by any means — and they get hit with a provincial tax bill over $4,000. Meanwhile, the same family in Saskatchewan pays only $1,470.

It’s not much better for individual income earners, either.

A single person earning $50,000 pays a staggering $4,499 in provincial income taxes in Manitoba, the highest west of Quebec and the fourth highest in the country.

In Saskatchewan, that same individual pays $3,669 in provincial income taxes.

And what do we get for it?

It’s not as if Manitobans are getting superior service from their provincial government to warrant being overcharged like this. Is health care better in Manitoba than in most other provinces? No. Annual indicators show Manitoba’s health care system is no better than the average in Canada. In fact, in some categories — including hospital wait times — it’s worse.

What about education? Are we getting a better bang for our buck on education to justify Manitoba’s disproportionately higher taxes?

No. There’s no evidence of that.

Roads? Don’t make me laugh. When’s the last time you drove home from Minneapolis on Hwy. 75? It’s an absolute embarrassment.

How about justice? Are Manitoba’s streets safer than in other provinces? Don’t even go there.

We know our child welfare system is no better than in other provinces. How many kids in care are still being housed in hotels?

So if we’re not getting better services from our government compared with other provinces, why are we paying so much more?

Why are middle-income families here getting taxed to death without getting anything in return for it?

You may want to ask your local NDP MLA about that one.

PROVINCIAL INCOME TAX RANKINGS

Provincial Income Taxes*

Two-income family of four earning $60,000

Quebec $5,933

Manitoba $3,042

P.E.I $2,992

Nova Scotia $2,667

British Columbia 2,599

Newfoundland $2,460

New Brunswick $2,402

Alberta $1,677

Saskatchewan $725

Ontario $615

Two-income family of five earning $75,000

Quebec $8,520

Manitoba $4,165

P.E.I $4,137

Nova Scotia $3,932

New Brunswick $3,585

Newfoundland 3,499

British Columbia $3,258

Alberta $2,518

Ontario $1,595

Saskatchewan $1,470

• Includes health premiums levied in B.C. and Ontario

— Manitoba Budget 2012

[cardinal10]

Filling the blanks in Selinger's speech


By Tom Brodbeck ,Winnipeg Sun

First posted: Thursday, December 15, 2011 07:33 PM CST
If you listen to Premier Greg Selinger speak, you’d think Manitoba doesn’t have a worry in the world.

I’m all for positive spin. And I know politicians want to put their governments in the best light possible.

By the same token though, you can’t solve the province’s problems unless you admit they exist. And they do exist.

We’re all happy the Winnipeg Jets are back in Manitoba — ecstatic actually — and we’re relieved we have a diversified economy that doesn’t experience the booms and busts of other jurisdictions.

But Manitoba has some serious problems Selinger conveniently ignored in his state of the province address Thursday. Which means he either doesn’t want to confront those problems or he has no ideas on how to solve them.

Take crime, for example. Selinger didn’t breathe a word about what is easily Manitoba’s single worst blight right now. Winnipeg is the Violent Crime Capital of Canada, organized crime has taken a foothold in this city and we’re hearing more and more about random knifings, shootings and beatings on the streets of Winnipeg, especially downtown.

We didn’t expect Selinger to focus the majority of his speech on Manitoba’s crime problem. But he didn’t even mention it, which means solving it is not a priority for him.

High school dropout rates are apparently not a priority for Selinger either. He failed to report that Manitoba has one of the worst dropout rates in the country. He did say what a wonderful job his government is doing on education generally. But he said nothing about what Manitoba can do to improve its extremely poor graduation rates.

Nor did he give us a blueprint on how his government plans to get the province out of record debt.

The province has been spending wildly beyond its means for years, racking up massive debt and mortgaging the future of our grandchildren.

The province’s debt as a percentage of GDP increased in 2011 for the fourth year in a row, something Selinger didn’t dare mention in front of a Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce luncheon crowd.

Nor did he state what plans he has to manage that debt.

What we do know is the provincial debt will worsen in 2011 and 2012 with this year’s extreme flooding.

We’re not going to blame government for a natural disaster. But we will hold them accountable for not having their finances in order to deal with unforeseen expenditures like extreme flooding. Selinger admitted Thursday that flooding costs will cause the deficit to go up this year.

But he didn’t say how he plans to manage that in future budgets. He also didn’t tell us why his government still only has a part-time finance minister or when he plans to appoint a full-time one.

Meanwhile, despite all the glowing words from the premier about Manitoba’s economy, he failed to lay out a strategy on how to deal with the reality that our economy is falling rapidly behind those of other Western provinces.

Provinces like Saskatchewan and Alberta are literally kicking our butts on economic growth, job creation, taxes and earnings.

Selinger didn’t even mention that as something his government plans to address. I guess it’s easier to keep your head in the sand on the big-picture items.

The premier gave Manitobans his version of where the province stands as of December 2011.

We thought we’d fill in the blanks on some of the areas he missed.



What you didn’t hear at the state of the province address:

Violent Crime — Manitoba has by far the worst violent crime in Canada. Manitoba had a crime severity index of 162.3 in 2010, the highest in the country, according to Statistics Canada. The national average was 88.9.

Record Debt — Manitoba government has reached a record debt of $14.8 billion. That’s up from $10.5 billion in 2007. The province’s debt as a percentage of GDP grew for the fourth year in a row, hitting 26.2% in 2011.

Highest Taxes — Manitoba still has the highest personal income taxes west of Quebec. A two-income family of four earning $60,000 paid $3,042 in provincial income taxes in 2011. In Saskatchewan, that family paid $725.

The Bleeding — Manitoba is still losing thousands a people a year to other provinces. Net interprovincial migration losses in Manitoba for 2010 were 2,421, up from 2,373 in 2009.

The Kicking — Manitoba is getting its butt kicked in economic growth this year in Western Canada. Manitoba’s GDP is expected to grow 2.5% this year. Saskatchewan and Alberta’s economies are projected to grow 4.5% and 4% respectively.

Dropouts — Manitoba has one of the worst high school drop-out rates in Canada. Between 2007-10, Manitoba’s dropout rate was 11.5%, second worse only to Quebec. The national average was 8.9%.

Styky, I've been fighting the public education system for years. The dropout rate is very concerning for me, but not for obvious reasons.

The NDP gov't sees a high dropout rate it makes it a priority to have more graduates. How do they do that? They dumb down the curriculum. They tell kids they don't have to hand in assignments on time, as marks will not be deducted for lateness. More and more Mickey Mouse courses are available. Of the 89% of graduates, I would say only 25% of them are graduating with top level courses. a high school diploma for many is useless...almost like a prize you get in a Cracker Jack box.