The Manitoba Provincial Politics Discussion

[rrskylar]

Originally Posted by cheswick

No... the PC party formed government in 2016. Prior to that NDP were in power since 1999.

Known as the failed speNDP regime

Had to laugh at the racist misogynist Kinew standing on a soap box across from Concordia Hospital and vowing to reopen the "beautiful ER" (as he called it) as part of the speNDP election platform.

From personal experience that ER was downright nasty, dirty, torn and worn out furniture in the waiting rooms, filthy restrooms, dated equipment but yeah after 17 years of the speNDP and health care became nothing but a bloated bureaucratic mess, great if you were employed and covered by the MGEU or the MNU!

[bomberjet]

I find ER layouts a bit odd in general. They seem very slow to react most times. Needed a ticket from security or some weird thing.

[Danny D Oh]

Originally Posted by dmacc

Do you think in the event the PCs win the province that it will spur less PC voters and more other voters federally? I could see how it would instill a false sense of security for the winner and a sense of urgency for the others to represent their federal party.

I honestly don't believe Manitoba is even a factor in the Federal Election.

There are a few seats that should be a tight race between Liberal-NDP and a few that should be tight between Liberal-Conservative but I don't see much shift other than 1-2 seats from 2015.

[Chrisforpm]

I’d love to see the MB Liberals surpass the NDP and form the official opposition. After Doer left, the NDP has drifted too far to the left. Not one of the current NDP MLA’s inspire me.

[blueandgoldguy]

Strategic is right. There is no other reason to call an election. They should have waited until spring of 2020.

Of course, Pallister said he was calling an election because he had kept all of his previous promises so that must be the real reason for this snap election.

[OTA in Winnipeg]

Give him a minority government.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by OTA in Winnipeg

Give him a minority government.

And let highways be built. Sorry that’s all I care about now, but yea there’s also the healthcare.

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by Chrisforpm

I’d love to see the MB Liberals surpass the NDP and form the official opposition. After Doer left, the NDP has drifted too far to the left. Not one of the current NDP MLA’s inspire me.

There are very few inspiring people in politics. Locally and nationally. Blanket statement.

[dmacc]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

There are very few inspiring people in politics. Locally and nationally. Blanket statement.

There definitely aren't many but I think both Jody Wilson-Raybould and Lisa Raitt, neither from this province have proven to be very intelligent people. I have to believe there are more then just the two of them. While watching the justice committee when JWR was being questioned she was very smart and calculated while Lisa was the most capable person there asking her questions and drawing the information out of her.

[StNorberter]

Originally Posted by dmacc

There definitely aren't many but I think both Jody Wilson-Raybould and Lisa Raitt, neither from this province have proven to be very intelligent people. I have to believe there are more then just the two of them. While watching the justice committee when JWR was being questioned she was very smart and calculated while Lisa was the most capable person there asking her questions and drawing the information out of her.

Trudeau was 100% correct in booting JWR from Caucus. Regardless of whatever else happened, she taped phone calls without the other party's knowledge. That issue alone is ample justification for booting her.

[dmacc]

Originally Posted by StNorberter

Trudeau was 100% correct in booting JWR from Caucus. Regardless of whatever else happened, she taped phone calls without the other party's knowledge. That issue alone is ample justification for booting her.

Would you say that JWR is less ethical then Trudeau?

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by dmacc

Would you say that JWR is less ethical then Trudeau?

It’s these instances that make people think that they have to pick the least worst... What has politics come down to...

[dmacc]

I know this isn't really the thread for this but I am surprised that so many people feel that way about JWR. After watching her testimony as well as the other people who were involved in the Justice committee investigation I never once felt JWR was dishonest or anything but genuine, intelligent and calculated.

[optimusREIM]

Originally Posted by dmacc

I know this isn't really the thread for this but I am surprised that so many people feel that way about JWR. After watching her testimony as well as the other people who were involved in the Justice committee investigation I never once felt JWR was dishonest or anything but genuine, intelligent and calculated.

I always got the same impression. It gave me hope that maybe there are still politicians who don't operate on a totally cynical level. She seemed like someone who actually took the responsibilities of her job seriously and when directed to violate those obligations took a moral stand. The fact that she felt moved to surreptitiously record phone conversations indicates that she felt she might be dismissed as lying and I think indicates really good presence of mind. This whole scandal was essentially proven based on those tapes. Anyways, just my two cents

[dmacc]

As for good provincial candidates, I can't really think of any that I envision as being worth a whole lot but I also haven't engaged with or seen any speak openly. I personally don't have much of an issue with Pallister since watching him speak at the Chamber of Commerce. he speaks to lowering taxes and implementing reform in both Health Care and now in Education. We can debate whether he is being successful at health care reform or not but at least there is attempts to make change and do things differently.

[rrskylar]

The guy with the bad rug sure didn't do himself any favours in tonight's debate, thought the thug Kinew actually came off better, green guy yammered about plastic in oceans oblivious to the fact he's running for premier of Manitoba.

Winner: Pallister and the only one who seemed competent enough to stay premier!

[Hecate]

Originally Posted by rrskylar

green guy yammered about plastic in oceans oblivious to the fact he's running for premier of Manitoba!

You do realize Manitoba is a maritime province right? We have an ocean. Plastic pollution in our oceans is a huge problem to species all over our planet.

[wags_in_the_peg]

Pallister came across as the most knowledgeable, but he sure knew how to take 5 minutes to answer a question but spent majority of time cutting down NDP. I liked him the best, but his suits needs tailoring, it was hanging off him.

Kinew came across as a smart ass. his smitty grin just doesnt do it for me.

Lamont reminds me of an art professor lost in the woods

Green guy was useless for the most part.

I really wish this election we could hear about taking education tax off property tax and somehow use general coffers to pay for education. maybe a 1% tax increase would be better off for the most part.

[1ajs]

there was a debate last night huh?

[Winnipegger]

Originally Posted by wags_in_the_peg

I really wish this election we could hear about taking education tax off property tax and somehow use general coffers to pay for education. maybe a 1% tax increase would be better off for the most part.

Manitoba in general is significantly behind the curve on the tax regime - and no, I'm not talking about "the taxes are too high" argument. But rather, Manitoba is peculiar in that:

• We only have 3 provincial income tax brackets, while most other provinces have 4 or 5. And our highest tax bracket starts really low, around $68k. The only other province that comes close to this is PEI. Saskatchewan also only has 3 but their third tax bracket starts at almost $130k - it helps to have oil and potash though. The Cons should have focused on changing our income tax system instead of giving us the measly 1% PST reduction.
  
• Education property tax is significantly lower in every other major city in Canada. I don't know what it is about our local school divisions, but they seem to overburden homeowners relative to the rest of Canada. It would be nice to see a separate bill for municipal tax and education tax as too many homeowners get confused and assume the entire bill goes to the City when reality only about half does. Makes it really hard politically for the city to get its butt in gear and raise tax to fix our crumbling infrastructure.
  
• For property tax, our portioning system is really weird. Basically, you can get your property assessed at $X amount, but the Province says that property tax only applies to Y% of that assessed amount - for residential properties, it's 45% of the assessed value and for most non-res stuff, it's 65%. The only other province that does this is Saskatchewan, and even then their portioning amounts are much higher - 80% for residential and 100% for other. This means that Manitoba and cities in Manitoba have to have mill rates that appear much higher than the rest of Canada's.
  
• Again on property tax, many other provinces allow variable mill rates across property types, meaning that a business might have a different mill rate/tax rate than a house. This isn't allowed in Manitoba, which means that houses and businesses pay the same tax rate per $1000 of portioned value. The result is that in places like Calgary, they derive more than half their property tax from businesses whereas in Winnipeg, we get 35% of our property tax (including business tax) from businesses.

Overall, the tax system in Manitoba is really outdated. I think some proper revenue-neutral reform could benefit Manitobans overall, but there is no political appetite to do so because you risk rocking the boat and upsetting the media.