While there are four candidates running for Mayor of Winnipeg, the two front-runners, incumbent Mayor Sam Katz and former NDP MP, Judy Wasylcia-Leis deserve extra scrutiny from taxpayers. This week, let’s start with Ms. Wasylcia-Leis’s campaign and her track record in politics.

Ms. Wasylcia-Leis scores points for her commitment not to draw on her MP pension while serving as Mayor. Taxpayers would already be paying her way, so there’s no need to collect twice.

However, when you delve into her record as an MP, it becomes clear Ms. Wasylcia-Leis’s style is more the Ottawa “tax and spend, big government” variety.

On the tax side, as an MP, she opposed tax relief for individuals and businesses under the former Liberal government, urging the government to spend the money instead. Judy also opposed the Conservative government’s “tax back guarantee” formula, referring to it as “silliness.” This is the same formula that contributed to the Conservative’s initial debt repayment and the reduction of the GST from 7 per cent to 5 per cent.

On the red-tape file, Ms. Wasylycia-Leis did advocate for removing regulatory burdens that prevent the expansion of credit unions in Canada. However, she also fought to have banks justify why they were closing branches. She wanted the government to “compel the banks to actively share in funding the return of financial services to communities they have already abandoned.” Put simply, she wanted the government to intervene and tell businesses how to spend their own money.

In the silly spending category, perhaps her most puzzling move in Ottawa was to push for the creation of a “national breast implant registry.” Given the costly $2 billion long-gun registry boondoggle, you’d think a registry for law abiding breast implant recipients would have been the last thing on any politician’s mind.

However, what was really strange about the proposal was the penalty for non-compliance with the registry; fines of up to $250,000 and/or up to five years in jail.

Yes, that’s right. While criminals in Winnipeg laughed at our “slap on the wrist” federal justice system, Ms. Wasylcia-Leis fought to hand out sentences for improperly registered breast implants that were harsher than what many car thieves and jerks who pepper sprayed children received.

That’s an important perspective to take note of. After all, previous Canadian Taxpayers Federation commentaries have noted how our weak justice system is driving huge costs to taxpayers in so many other areas.

As for her mayoral platform, Ms. Wasylcia-Leis has already promised 2 per cent annual property tax increases. A tax hike is disappointing; especially as so many news stories in Winnipeg regularly highlight areas for improvement at City Hall. Not to mention that many taxpayers are already taxed out.

The second part of her tax commitment would allow seniors to defer paying property taxes until they die or their homes are sold. At first blush, it sounds like a nice way to help seniors with their tax bill, but in reality one can already imagine city tax bureaucrats fighting with the children of deceased seniors as their wills are opened. Not to mention what the mammoth borrowing scheme will cost to administer and inflict on the City of Winnipeg’s credit rating.

Next week, we’ll review Mayor Katz’s track record and campaign commitments.

Note: Column posted as sent to the Winnipeg Sun for their October 6 edition