Whomever the NDP chooses to fill Mr. Doer’s shoes, one thing is for certain our next premier is going to have his work cut out for him.  Manitoba is still losing citizens to other provinces, health care wait times are too high, hydro is hemorrhaging debt and our tax rates are uncompetitive. As a free public service, here are some free policy ideas for Gary Doer’s replacement.

According to Statistics Canada figures (links available on www.taxpayer.com/blog), from 2001 to June 2009, Manitoba lost 108,282 people to other provinces while only 80,907 citizens came to Manitoba. The net loss of 27,375 citizens is equivalent to the populations of Portage La Prairie, Steinbach and Neepawa combined. Therefore the population growth you hear about in the news is attributed to our birth rate and immigration from other countries, not from citizens moving here from other provinces.

The problem is that Manitoba taxpayers have paid dearly to educate many of the 27,375 citizens that have left; 26,838 of which went to B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. It’s no coincidence those provinces have attracted so many Manitobans, they have much lower tax rates and thus the private sector has more funds to create lucrative opportunities.

It’s time to sit down and draw out a bold plan to bring our personal income taxes in line those provinces, eliminate Manitoba’s job-killing payroll tax and eliminate school taxes.

Beyond taxation, the provincial government needs to address its spending problem. From 1999 to 2009, spending increased from $6 billion per year to $10.2 billion – more than double the combined rate of inflation and population growth. As the Canadian Taxpayers Federation suggested this past March, it’s time to strike an all-party committee to identify ways of spending existing dollars more efficiently.

In the mean time, our government could follow in New Brunswick’s footsteps and introduce a cap on spending as well a two year wage freeze for all public employees. Private sector employees certainly felt the pinch during the recent economic slowdown, it’s only fair government employees should too.

In terms of Hydro, it’s well known that the Public Utilities Board is concerned about Manitoba Hydro’s debt levels. While keeping Manitoba Hydro in public hands, the government could allow private hydro companies to develop dams in our province. Most importantly, like British Columbia and Ontario do, those companies could be charged a tax for the right to develop those waterways. That move could bring in billions of private sector dollars in our province, create jobs, increase tax dollars and allow Manitoba Hydro to concentrate on debt repayment.

While billions are spent on health care each year in Manitoba, long waiting lists have forced some Manitobans to pursue timely health care in the United States. Each time that happens, hundreds, if not thousands of dollars are being taken out of our economy. While maintaining our public system, it’s time to allow private hospitals to offer the same services as public ones. That would not only help our economy, it would reduce the number of citizens on the public system’s waiting lists.

Hopefully Mr. Doer`s replacement considers these suggestions. If not, Progressive Conservative leader Hugh McFadyen and Liberal leader Jon Gerrard are certainly welcome to poach them during the next election.