Today's Metro News (Regina) has a story about Saskatchewan's Finance Minister suggesting Manitobans are welcome in his lower-taxed province.

Some will try and dismiss his comments as rhetoric, but you can't ignore the numbers. Take a look at the data below and you'll see Saskatchewan's tax system is much more attractive than Manitoba's and several former Manitobans have already taken him up on the offer to move in...

WHO HAS MOVED WHERE?

If you look at Statistics Canada numbers (click here for page) you'll see more people have left Manitoba for Saskatchewan over the past five years than the other way around. In fact, Manitoba's net loss of residents to Saskatchewan is at a five-year high.

PROVINCIAL SALES TAX:

MB - 7% (soon to be 8%)
SK - 5%

PERSONAL INCOME TAX (Click here for source):

$40,000 of Income
MB - $7,880
SK -  $7,068

$60,000 of Income
MB - $14,581
SK - $13,760

LAND TRANSFER TAX/FEE ON $300,000 home (Click for source):
MB - $3,720
SK -  $900

SALES TAX ON A USED $25,000 CAR:

MB - $1,750
SK -  $0 (no tax on used vehicles)

OUCH!

Just imagine being a $40,000 income earner with a $25,000 used car and $300,000 home. That's a tax difference of $5,382 when you look at those two purchases plus the difference in income taxes. Of cours that total doesn't even include the new 8% PST on everyday purchases, school taxes and other taxes!

As Prairie Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation I oversee both Manitoba and Saskatchewan. However, as a Manitoban, I've got to say I find the numbers pretty disappointing. This province has so much opportunity; we're rich in resources, talented entrepreneurs, beautiful parks, a vibrant cultural scene and a lot more. There's no reason for Manitobans to be taxed to the max so badly. Without a doubt our high taxes and unfriendly business environment continues to drive talented people away from our province.

In fact, if you look at these Statistics Canada numbers you'll see Manitoba has been driving away people to other provinces for years. Last year alone 3,926 more people left the province than decided to move here from other provinces. That's a huge cost to Manitoba taxpayers as many of those people who left benefitted from subsidized education, health care and other services prior to leaving.

Hopefully you can see why our fight against an 8% PST is so important...we just can't keep driving people out of this province with high, opportunity-killing taxes. It's just not sustainable.

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