Manitoba government hands down budget amid health care, affordability concerns
The Manitoba government is set to deliver its annual budget today, with a focus on affordability and health care.
Property taxes have been rising in many areas, and a government source tells The Canadian Press that the budget will boost a credit homeowners receive on education property taxes by $100 starting next year.
Owners of million-dollar homes, however, are to get less of a break.
The tax credit will, for the first time, be reduced on a sliding scale for people with homes valued at more than $1 million, and it will be eliminated for owners of homes worth over $1.5 million.
OPINION: The grocery squeeze. How rising prices are eroding financial security for Canadians
The budget comes amid rising gas prices and recent spikes in food inflation.
The NDP government has already promised to come up with ways to keep grocery prices down and has said it might introduce more limits on the price of milk.
READ: Manitoba government proposes new grocery rules, rent control, some hydro hikes
The budget is also expected to lay out plans for a promised public inquiry into a failed attempt by members of the former Tory government to get a silica sand mine approved east of Winnipeg.
The mine was approved after the Tories lost the 2023 provincial election and before the NDP was sworn in. The province's ethics commissioner said the attempt violated the conflict of interest law, and Premier Wab Kinew has said there are unanswered questions about what happened.
The budget is also expected to contain promises of more money for health care, as wait times remain long. Cabinet ministers in recent weeks have signalled money for nursing training and cardiac care, as well as funding for police and corrections officers.
READ: Manitoba orders grocery pricing study to tackle rising costs
The government has promised to balance the budget by the 2027-28 fiscal year but has missed its annual targets so far.
The deficit for the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, has more than doubled since last spring to $1.6 billion, largely due to wildfires and drought.
