Close X
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
ADVT 
National

Manitoba Tories Look Inward For Savings To Pay For Election Promises

The Canadian Press, 08 Apr, 2016 11:44 AM
    WINNIPEG — Manitoba Progressive Conservatives will find tens of millions of dollars in unspecified efficiencies within government in order to pay for their campaign promises, leader Brian Pallister said Friday.
     
    Pallister released his party's full platform, with cost and savings estimates, for the April 19 election that polls suggest he is poised to win.
     
    The platform projects $50 million a year in savings through an efficiency review of government programs. Another $35 million a year will be saved through what Pallister calls "smart shopping" for goods and services by putting more contracts up for open bidding
     
    "The government spends about $3.5 billion a year, and we just estimated now that we could save one per cent," Pallister said.
     
    Pallister added that a Tory government would save $14 million a year by joining the New West Partnership — a trade deal set up by the other western provinces in 2010. Another $5 million a year would be saved by cutting the number of cabinet ministers, along with senior advisers, by one-third.
     
    On the spending side, the Tories are promising $50 million in additional infrastructure, $20 million for new personal care home beds and $3.4 million for new tourism promotion and more.
     
    The Tories also said they would immediately index tax brackets to inflation, draining $17 million from the treasury.
     
    Pallister's biggest promise — a one-point cut to the provincial sales tax — is not included in the platform. Pallister said that will come toward the end of a first Tory mandate, and his platform only includes costs through the 2017-18 fiscal year.
     
    Pallister said the move would make an admittedly-small $22-million dent in the $773-million deficit.
     
    "I'm presenting a balanced, logical plan that would turn the ship — not immediately, that's risky. I don't want to put people out of work. I want to keep people working."
     
    The Tories are also promising to change labour laws. Pallister said he would eliminate "forced unionization" — labour agreements that cover all workers on big government projects and require them to be part of a collective agreement.
     
    The Tories would further end automatic certification in union drives and allow secret-ballot votes in all cases. Currently, if a union gets 65 per cent or more of employees in a workplace to sign membership cards, certification is automatic and no vote is held. 

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Alberta Government Introduces Industry-friendly Oil And Gas Royalty System

    CALGARY — Alberta's NDP government is introducing an industry-friendly royalty system that won't change the province's take from oilsands projects.

    Alberta Government Introduces Industry-friendly Oil And Gas Royalty System

    Canadian Economic Growth Inches Forward 0.3% In November: Statistics Canada

    Canadian Economic Growth Inches Forward 0.3% In November: Statistics Canada
    Statistics Canada's latest reading for real gross domestic product followed zero growth in October and a contraction of 0.5 per cent in September.

    Canadian Economic Growth Inches Forward 0.3% In November: Statistics Canada

    B.C. Mom And Dad Convicted Of Assault For Spanking 14-year-old Girl For Sexting

    B.C. Mom And Dad Convicted Of Assault For Spanking 14-year-old Girl For Sexting
    Her father used a mini hockey stick two or three times on his daughter's buttocks over her pyjama pants and when her mother came home, she delivered a similar punishment with a skipping rope.

    B.C. Mom And Dad Convicted Of Assault For Spanking 14-year-old Girl For Sexting

    Inderjit Singh Reyat's Connection To B.C. Town Lingers As Residents Support Families

    Inderjit Singh Reyat's Connection To B.C. Town Lingers As Residents Support Families
     Residents of a British Columbia town are thinking of the families of 331 who died in the Air India bombings now that the only man convicted of the crimes has been released from prison.

    Inderjit Singh Reyat's Connection To B.C. Town Lingers As Residents Support Families

    Anaheim Ducks's Clayton Stoner Banned From Hunting For 3 Years

    Anaheim Ducks's Clayton Stoner Banned From Hunting For 3 Years
    Anaheim Ducks defenceman Clayton Stoner was banned from hunting for three years and fined $10,000 for killing a grizzly bear on British Columbia's central coast.

    Anaheim Ducks's Clayton Stoner Banned From Hunting For 3 Years

    Experts Applaud Toronto Court Ruling Against Man Who Posted Ex's Explicit Video Online

    Experts Applaud Toronto Court Ruling Against Man Who Posted Ex's Explicit Video Online
    Legal experts are celebrating a recent Ontario court decision that forces a man to compensate his ex-girlfriend after posting an explicit video of her online without her consent.  

    Experts Applaud Toronto Court Ruling Against Man Who Posted Ex's Explicit Video Online