View From the Legislature

This week a survey was released by pollster NANOS Research that indicated that 74% of Canadians were prepared for budget cuts in the upcoming federal budget believing restraint is necessary for the future health of Canada’s economy.

While the support for restraint may be a bit higher than some would have predicted, it should not have come as a complete surprise given that we have all seen the devastating effect that increased debt has had on some European countries and to a lesser extent the United States.

Of course, the survey simply asked Canadians about the general notion of restraint. It didn’t outline any specific potential cuts to the federal budget which might have yielded a different result depending on the proposal.

But what the survey seems to indicate, and it would likely yield similar results if it was concentrated solely in Manitoba, is that taxpayers expect government to set priorities and by doing so exercise restraint. Manitobans know that running annual deficits, especially of the $1 billion variety we saw last year from the NDP, ultimately results in the kind of tough decisions that are taking place in other parts of the world.

The survey will come as either an unwelcome surprise to the provincial NDP government or, more likely, as just another thing to be ignored. That’s because over the majority of their time in office, the NDP has not been faced with having to set priorities. It was fortunate to govern in a time of robust increases to revenues and federal transfer payments. Now that there is a growing recognition of the need for governments to get their financial houses in order, the NDP will be forced to prioritize and ensure all tax dollars are spent efficiently. And they are not very happy about that prospect.

New NDP Finance Minister Stan Struthers has picked up where his predecessor left off, complaining to Ottawa that they need more money. This despite the fact that payments in the form of transfers from Ottawa and equalization from other provinces is at an all time high.

All this makes for an interesting upcoming provincial budget. While Manitobans are indicating that they are looking for the government to set priorities and meet balanced budget targets, the NDP government is doing everything it can to continue spending without concern as it has before.

The budget will be a clear indicator as to whether the NDP can match the expectations of Manitobans or whether, as a government, it is unwilling to do the hard work of ensuring efficient government policies are in place so that the specific and pressing needs of Manitobans can be met at the same time restraint can be demonstrated.