Manitoba Premier promises to end provincial tax on food from grocery store
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says today’s budget will take the tax off food from the grocery store.
Kinew, in a post on social media, says everything from rotisserie chicken to salads would be free of the provincial sales tax if the budget passes.
The change is a key part of a budget that promises to 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.
The budget comes amid rising gas prices and recent spikes in food inflation.
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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. 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.
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.
