Pallister reneged on no-tax pledge: poll

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This article was published 19/10/2017 (2379 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

More than half of Manitobans believe Premier Brian Pallister broke an election promise last month when he said he might introduce a health tax.

A Probe Research poll commissioned by the Free Press found that 52 per cent of provincial residents feel the premier failed to keep his word that he would not consider a major tax increase.

However, 31 per cent would cut the premier some slack, agreeing with his assertion his government faces an unanticipated financial reality. (Seventeen per cent of survey respondents said they were undecided or unsure.)

 

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Winnipeggers (57 per cent) were more likely than those living outside the capital (46 per cent) to feel the government broke its tax promise. Older voters — 53 per cent among those age 55 and older, and 59 per cent in the 35 to 54 age group — were also more likely to feel the premier had not kept his word. Among adults aged 18 to 34, 44 per cent said they felt that way.

Mary Agnes Welch, a Probe research associate, said the health-premiums issue is risky for the premier.

“Brian Pallister needs to keep Winnipeg residents onside if he’s going to be re-elected, and older people vote. And older people also tend to be quite a bit more concerned about health care,” she said.

Welch noted the Progressive Conservative government gave no warning it was considering a tax increase until mid-September. “This was never on the radar,” she said.

Probe surveyed Manitobans from Sept. 21 to Oct. 10. Earlier, the Free Press reported 71 per cent of provincial residents were opposed to paying a health premium, with 53 per cent strongly opposed.

The opposition cut across all political party lines.

Not surprisingly, NDP and Liberal supporters were more likely to accuse Pallister of breaking his promise made prior to the April 2016 election, while Progressive Conservative backers were more likely to agree the situation had changed.

Seventy-three per cent of NDP supporters and 62 per cent of Liberal backers felt the premier broke his word, while 26 per cent of PC supporters were of that opinion.

NDP health critic Andrew Swan said Manitobans are unhappy with the government’s hospital reforms and cuts to health services. He said it’s no surprise they would react strongly to the idea of a health tax.

“We have a premier who promised he would increase health care and cut taxes, and instead we now have a premier who wants to increase taxes and cut health care,” Swan said.

Manitobans want a strong health-care system and services close to where they live, he said, adding while the premier seemed to be intent on reducing “waste” in the system, he’s likely finding out there is little waste to cut.

“Perhaps the premier threw this (the notion of health premiums) out just to try to get a reaction to justify further health cuts,” Swan said. “We don’t know.”

Todd MacKay, prairie director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said there is no way the PCs can “spin” the polling numbers. “Those are definitive,” he said, referring to the number of Manitobans who believe the premier broke his word.

If the government wants to break its promise by imposing health premiums on Manitoba families, it must hold a referendum first, MacKay said. “If they don’t do that, they are skating on very, very thin ice.”

A spokeswoman for Pallister said Thursday the government knew the idea of health premiums would be controversial.

“However, we felt it was more important to get Manitobans engaged in the conversation about the future of our health-care system than to worry about approval ratings,” she said in an email.

“We wanted to drive the discussion and raise the awareness of the pressures on our system. There is no question it’s worked. The premier’s goal was to engage Manitobans in a conversation about health-care sustainability. We’ve succeeded in that. The Probe poll is certainly another piece of information we will take into consideration.”

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca