Last week we received the final numbers for the last fiscal year. The Minister of Finance once again over spent the budget approved by the Legislature. He over spent the budget by a whopping $220 Million. Normally this would have meant a deficit for the Province, or the Finance Minister would have raided the Rainy Day Fund to cover the shortfall. However, luckily for the Minister of Finance, Ottawa gave a handout to Manitoba in the amount of an extra $118 Million and other revenues to the Province were higher than expected from our high personal income taxes, sales tax rates, taxes earned from tobacco and alcohol use and gambling taxes. All of these increases saved embarrassment for the Finance Minister because without these increases, the Province would have created another deficit financial year or he would have needed to raid the Rainy Day Fund once again, just to balance the books.

What did this extra $220 Million of spending buy us? Not a penny went into our roads. Our roads are still crumbling before our eyes. Crime is running rampant in Manitoba. Not a week goes by without finding out that more grow-ops are being discovered. After all the political double talk by this government, our cattle slaughter capacity has not increased and as a result our cattle farmers are still vulnerable to the effect of BSE. Our universities and schools remain underfunded. Our health care system was rated last in Canada by The Conference Board of Canada. The Province’s debt has skyrocketed to over $20 Billion, and as a result, Manitobans currently pay more that $3.5 Million every day in interest costs.

This is not a record to be proud of. We need a government that will produce and demand results for increased spending. We now don’t have one!