WINNIPEG – It’s budget day in Manitoba and the Progressive Conservative government is promising to turn the province’s finances around.
Finance Minister Cameron Friesen is hinting at spending restraint and some possible tax relief, but adds there has not been a lot of time to enact changes since the Tories came to power in April.
The Tories already signalled some of their key budget items during the election campaign.
They include lower ambulance fees, more personal care-home beds and government spending cuts.
Friesen says front-line services will be protected and the savings will come from efficiencies in government operations.
The minister says he plans to move toward a balanced budget, but it will take time because the deficit is currently more than one-billion dollars.
The Tories are also expected to eliminate a public subsidy for political parties and find savings through a red-tape task force.
The party’s biggest campaign promise — a reduction in the provincial sales tax — will not be in the budget.
It was promised by 2020.
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