Taxing to fix infrastructure

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/06/2012 (5214 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s NDP government did something a bit out of character this weekend — it decided not to jump at the opportunity to raise taxes.

This despite some pretty widespread support to raise the provincial sales tax one point to be dedicated to fix crumbling infrastructure.

As you’ll read in today’s Brandon Sun, the NDP grassroots decided at the party’s annual convention to defer a resolution calling for the provincial government to hike the PST to raise more money to fix Manitoba’s crumbling roads and bridges.

The decision, reports the Winnipeg Free Press, means a call by the Manitoba Federation of Labour to increase the provincial sales tax by a percentage point will not be addressed. Instead, it will now be examined by the party’s executive at its next meeting.

In real terms, it means it’s been bulldozed under.

A one-point hike in the PST would raise an estimated $262 million a year. Manitoba is said to have an $11-billion municipal infrastructure deficit. Brandon Mayor Shari Decter Hirst has pegged Brandon’s infrastructure deficit at $165 million.

But even if he MFL resolution had been addressed, it would have likely had little impact, as the government is not obliged to follow policy as set at convention and Premier Greg Selinger previously said the province is already pouring hundreds of millions into infrastructure.

Manitoba has also already committed to giving municipalities the equivalent of one percentage point of the PST for infrastructure purposes.

In editorials last week, both the Brandon Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press called on the NDP to consider raising the PST to help rescue Manitoba’s crumbling roads, bridges and sidewalks.

In this space we noted that reluctance for political reasons by successive levels of government over several decades to properly plan for infrastructure repair and maintenance — not to mention upgrades and expansion — has now resulted in a dire situation.

In a column in the Free Press last week, Winnipeg businessman and University of Manitoba law professor David Asper urged Selinger to take a “bold” step.

“It’s always risky for a government to raise taxes. I’m astonished that I find myself in agreement with the very idea of tax increases,” he wrote

“But at some point we have to collectively decide either we want infrastructure fixed in a comprehensive way or, if not, then we have to stop griping about it and suffer the consequences.”

Asper dismissed arguments made by taxpayer advocates — such as CAA — who say the government has plenty of money to accomplish the infrastructure fix if it only spent its revenue more wisely.

“(The) reality is this government seems content with the way it’s currently operating and it is going to be the government for the next three years or so.

“In other words, it’s unlikely the government is going to suddenly quit spending approximately $200 million where it’s already been allocated to various activities and shift that money to infrastructure.

“We can’t afford to wait to see if Manitobans decide to change the government in the next election to start tackling a problem that gets worse by the day.”

And for anyone to call on the better-safe-than-sorry Selinger to make a bold move of any type is folly. However, all is not lost on the infrastructure front, as the federal government has now committed to extending a major infrastructure fund.

Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel announced on Friday that the seven-year, $33-billion fund begun in 2007 will continue past 2014. But Lebel wouldn’t say how much money will be on the table because that depends on the economy.

So as you bounce down the road this week, don’t hold your breath for it to be paved anytime soon.