B. Max Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 I can't think of one province that the ndp have been allowed to set up shop in that they haven't managed to destroy. It's always the same story, people fleeing. http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Columnists...17/2390880.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverwind Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 I can't think of one province that the ndp have been allowed to set up shop in that they haven't managed to destroy. It's always the same story, people fleeing.People leave Manitoba because Alberta and Saskatchwen have the oil fuelled jobs and they are not that far away from home and family. It is impossible for any gov't to compete with that no matter how enlightened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Max Posted November 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 I can't think of one province that the ndp have been allowed to set up shop in that they haven't managed to destroy. It's always the same story, people fleeing.People leave Manitoba because Alberta and Saskatchwen have the oil fuelled jobs and they are not that far away from home and family. It is impossible for any gov't to compete with that no matter how enlightened. The BC ndp did exactly the same thing, and sask. biggest export was its people. Both have resources coming out their ears. Before they were thrown out the BC ndp actually bragged how they had turned BC into one big park. What they did was to park the economy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BubberMiley Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 People have always left Manitoba to go West or to Toronto, no matter what government is in power. You see the same thing in the Maritimes and they never elect NDP governments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Blue Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 I can't think of one province that the ndp have been allowed to set up shop in that they haven't managed to destroy. It's always the same story, people fleeing. I haven't found Manitoba that bad. But then again I have a federal job. The NDP seem's to have done an allright job in this province, and I'll probably vote for them when it comes to the provincial election. You can't blame the government for the fact that Alberta's economy is booming and their's isn't since Alberta is in a unique situation right now. Besides if Manitoba was that bad why would Northern Ontario contemplate joining the great province of Manitoba! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinnipegPatriot Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 Saskatchewan, despite more oil than us, has a rapidly-declining population, while we are growing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdobbin Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 Manitoba has just had a throne speech where not much of anything has been announced. The NDP government are putting money into roads long neglected because they are suffering in the polls because people are fed up. The economy has been performing fairly strongly but we are about to be hot with a double whammy of losing the Canadian Wheat Board and Agricore United for a total of 1000 jobs. The government announces Conawapa dam every couple of years but it is a long way from being constructed. The tuition rebate is going to costly and might not really help keep young people in the province. Sadly, the Conservative and Liberal opposition isn't that strong. If Doer stays, he could probably win again although there is a sense that the party itself is not performing well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fellowtraveller Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 To an outsider, Manitoba seems to have many of the things required for prosperity: cheap energy, arable land, mineral and timber resources, an educated workforce and more. Yet it still derives 20% of its annual budget from federal (actually provincial) handouts. They remain a 'havenot' province, while many others have turned their economies around. Is the NDP govt a common denominator in a history of economic failure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdobbin Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 To an outsider, Manitoba seems to have many of the things required for prosperity: cheap energy, arable land, mineral and timber resources, an educated workforce and more.Yet it still derives 20% of its annual budget from federal (actually provincial) handouts. They remain a 'havenot' province, while many others have turned their economies around. Is the NDP govt a common denominator in a history of economic failure? No, we have to go the Conservative governments as well. They have had their share of screw-ups and it wasn't peaches and cream under them either. The cheap energy comes at the cost of a huge upfront construction project. Limestone was done on speculation. Luckily, it panned out. Conawapa needs a major customer like Ontario to buy. The province was close in the 1990s to signing a deal but it fell apart. Ontario probably regrets that decision now. Aside from the big upfront costs of the dam there is a $1 billion transmission line that needs to be built over country where no road exists. Manitoba was one of the first provinces do go deficit free. That has helped maintain the workforce it has now and the the younger population generally has a job to go although opportunities for advancement and better pay are not there. The province has pursued too many industries than come begging for money and our very mobile when they don't get it. The call centers, the hog industry and others are always asking for money. Thankfully, the province has stopped giving money to call centers. Agriculture dominates the market outside Winnipeg. And agriculture has not done extremely well in years. There is no second large city to help fuel the economy. It is significant that Manitoba is the only province east of the Maritimes with no second city of size. Manitoba businesses are diverse but not especially large compared to east or west. Manitoba's forests are slow growth wood and far from market. A tax cut would help but Alberta could cut their taxes to zero in response. They can pay people in Alberta to stay and still have money left over. It is hard to compete based on tax alone. Still, I think the province will have to consider a tax cut. Preferably on income rather than the sales tax. The provinces needs an economic blueprint to work from. The NDP and the PCs have done a few good things but the province needs a stronger plan of action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonJowett Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 They remain a 'havenot' province, while many others have turned their economies around. Besides Saskatchewan, which has a lot more oil (and an NDP common denominator), who are the many others who switched from have-not to have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fellowtraveller Posted November 20, 2006 Report Share Posted November 20, 2006 They remain a 'havenot' province, while many others have turned their economies around. Besides Saskatchewan, which has a lot more oil (and an NDP common denominator), who are the many others who switched from have-not to have? In recent years: BC, Saskatchewan,Alberta, Ontario . New Brunswick and I believe Nova Scotia are close. And I wonder about Manitobas 'deficit free' budgets. How realistic is that when 20% of govt revenue is from transfer/equaliztion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdobbin Posted November 21, 2006 Report Share Posted November 21, 2006 And I wonder about Manitobas 'deficit free' budgets. How realistic is that when 20% of govt revenue is from transfer/equaliztion? Only two provinces don't receive equalization. Saskatchewan is close but not quite there. http://www.fin.gc.ca/FEDPROV/eqpe.html Equalization is a federal program. It is based on a set of criteria not necessarily controlled by the province. The fiscal capacity of the provinces is determined by measuring their revenue from 33 different sources. Those sources are: * Personal income taxes * Business income taxes * Capital taxes * General and miscellaneous sales taxes * Tobacco taxes * Gasoline taxes * Diesel fuel taxes * Non commercial vehicle licenses * Commercial vehicle licenses * Revenues from the sale of alcoholic beverages * Hospital and medical insurance premiums * Race track taxes * Forestry revenues * New oil revenues * Old oil revenues * Heavy oil revenues * Mined oil revenues * Third-tier oil revenues * Heavy third-tier revenues * Natural gas revenues * Sales of crown leases * Other oil and gas revenues * Mineral resources * Water power rentals * Insurance premiums * Payroll taxes * Provincial-local property taxes * Lottery ticket revenue * Other games of chance revenues * Miscellaneous provincial-local taxes and Revenue * Shared revenues: Offshore activities/Newfoundland * Shared revenues: Offshore activities/Nova Scotia * Shared revenues: Preferred Share Division Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melanie_ Posted November 22, 2006 Report Share Posted November 22, 2006 ~deleted~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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