With 2011 nearly upon us, here’s a quick thumbs up/thumbs down recap of the provincial government’s activities in 2010.

First, let’s start with some good news. Recently the provincial government made national headlines for eliminating the province’s small business tax. Yes, Manitoba is now the only province in Canada without a provincial income tax for small businesses. The province gets a thumbs up for the move and their reductions to the tax over the past decade.

However, they get a thumbs down for their “give with one hand and take with the other” approach.

You see, the province has hiked the minimum wage by 25 per cent over the past four years and has let school taxes skyrocket for businesses. That means businesses might save on their income tax bill, but are often paying a lot more in labour costs and school property taxes.

As we all know, if a business’s costs go up, so do the prices of their products and services. That’s why the good intention of trying to help low income people by hiking the minimum wage doesn’t work. It leads to fewer jobs and higher prices.

A better solution would be for the province to raise our low basic personal exemption (BPE) – meaning everyone could earn more before paying provincial income taxes. That would put more money into every taxpayer’s pocket without forcing businesses to raise prices or layoff staff.

As Manitoba is still one of three provinces that doesn’t protect taxpayers by raising the BPE and tax brackets with inflation, it gets a big thumbs down.

Manitoba Hydro on the other hand gets a thumbs up for refusing to cave into a silly lawsuit filed by Winnipeg’s City Hall. You see, City Hall thinks Hydro should have been charging a tax on a tax over the past several years and is trying to soak Hydro for $9 million as a result. Keep up the good fight Hydro!

Speaking of Manitoba Hydro, the province gets a thumbs down for continuing to force Hydro to make its next major hydro line 500kms longer than necessary. As the “BiPole III” line will be much longer than necessary, it will needlessly cost the average Manitoban an extra $1,000 or so. For that reason the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has joined others in creating the BiPole III Coalition to educate people about the poor decision.

Back on a positive note, the province deserves a thumbs up for continuing to put all the money they collect in fuel taxes back into road construction and repair.

For the stadium deal, they get a big thumbs down for refusing our call for a referendum for the project. You’d think at the very least they could have held an open house to see what people thought about the $190 million deal.

The province also earns a thumbs down for its plan to rack up $2 billion in deficits by 2013-14; despite a growing economy. That’s reckless to say the least.

Finally, all provincial politicians deserve a thumbs up for listening to our call for tightening the rules that govern their expense accounts and for agreeing to make the details more transparent.

Hopefully 2011 will see more thumbs up than thumbs down.