Steinbach MLA, Kelvin Goertzen, used the first Question Period of the new session of the Manitoba Legislature on Tuesday to question Premier Greg Selinger about his broken promise to balance the provincial budget by 2014.
On Monday the NDP Premier backed away from his previous promise to bring the provincial budget into balance by 2014. Despite record tax increases and record transfer payments from Ottawa, the NDP now say they will not balance their budget as promised.
“The overall finances of the province are in trouble,” said Goertzen. “It’s not enough to say it’s the result of the flood or external factors. When you really look at the provincial books, you see that the reason the NDP are running record deficits is primarily because of NDP mismanagement and overspending in all areas of government.”
Goertzen asked the Premier in Question Period why, after breaking his promise not to raise taxes and now breaking his promise to balance the budget in 2014, Manitobans should have confidence in any other promise the Premier makes.
“There is a significant credibility gap between what Premier Selinger says he is going to do and what he actually does. That is concerning in itself, but what I am most concerned about is the fact the province cannot keep running deficits indefinitely,” said Goertzen.
Goertzen noted that the provincial debt has doubled since the NDP government came to office.
