Manitoba government prepares plan to deal with larger deficit as legislature breaks
Posted December 7, 2023 4:21 pm.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says he plans to tighten the government’s belt in order to deal with the province’s latest deficit projection.
Kinew says he plans to reveal details next week, but in broad strokes, some initiatives promised by the former Progressive Conservative government will be pulled back.
He says in some cases, the leg work needed to put the promises into action was never done anyway.
The NDP government said this week the provincial deficit is now forecast to reach $1.6 billion, based on spending the Tories committed to before the Oct. 3 election.
Kinew says he is still committed to fulfilling his party’s campaign promises, including a one-year freeze on hydroelectric rates sometime in the coming years.
He made the comments hours before the legislature started its winter break.
The three-week fall sitting saw a number of bills passed, including a temporary suspension of the provincial fuel tax that is to take effect Jan. 1
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 7, 2023
