The Manitoba government announced today that it will be presenting the 2023 provincial budget on March 7.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the government to implement three important taxpayer priorities in the upcoming budget.

They are:

• Provide tax relief.
• Balance the budget.
• Control spending.

“Manitobans are faced with one of the highest tax burdens in the country,” said Gage Haubrich, the CTF’s Prairie Director. “Now is the time to cut taxes and provide real relief.”

A Manitoban family earning $75,000 has a provincial tax bill of $7,148. That is over $2,000 more than the same family in Toronto or Regina. It is more than double what a family pays in Calgary.

Over the past 10 years, the province’s budget has been balanced only once. During that time government debt increased by 79 per cent. In the last five years, $4.9 billion has been spent on interest payments on the provincial debt.

“Manitoba needs to buckle down and work to balance the budget and pay down the debt,” said Haubrich. “Balancing the budget means less in interest costs today, and less of a burden for future generations tomorrow.”

The CTF presented these recommendations to the government in a speech at a public pre-budget meeting on February 6.