Manitoba’s NDP government to deliver its first budget April 2

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has set April 2 as budget day this year.

It will be the first budget since the New Democrats swept to power in last October’s provincial election.

Kinew has signalled some measures to expect, such as higher taxes on vaping products and $30 million for a school nutrition program.

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The government also has to deal with a tight fiscal situation, as Manitoba has registered deficits in every year but two since 2009.

The NDP government says it found out the deficit for the current fiscal year is much worse than expected when they took office — recently projected at $1.6 billion.

The province is also facing the impact of losing money via income-tax cuts and a temporary suspension of the provincial fuel
tax that took effect Jan. 1.