Mr. Speaker, I know your ruling makes the member across the way uncomfortable. However, I want to talk about how Manitobans are feeling after the federal and provincial budgets came down and make a comparison so people understand, in Manitoba and right across Canada, the dangers of an NDP government.
As I said, in 2011, in the example, federal tax due is $6,000 at a 15% personal income tax rate. The Manitoba tax is just shy of $4,500. I am not talking about all the different tax credits introduced, such as tax reductions because of age, children, education or sports. I am talking about only the reduction in the bracket creep and in the personal income tax base. The taxpayers in Manitoba are enjoying a savings in federal income tax of $1,736, which is down 22.5%. However, they are paying $743 more in provincial income tax. That is up almost 20%. Instead of enjoying a tax savings of $2,578, thanks to the NDP in Manitoba, they are only enjoying a $993 reduction in personal income taxes. That is a personal tax grab of $1,585 by Stan Struthers and Premier Selinger.
We hear that Manitoba needs the money because it is not getting enough money from Ottawa. In this budget, we are maintaining our transfers to the provinces. Since we came to power, we have increased our overall contributions to the province of Manitoba by $648 million. That is a huge increase from the $2.7 billion from the federal Liberals to the $3.4 billion that the Conservatives are giving Manitoba. The problem is that Manitoba does not have a revenue problem. It has increased taxes and it gets more money from the federal government. It has a spending problem.
I wanted to talk about the dangers of what NDP policies present to us and what the NDP would do with a federal budget. What sums it up best is in a letter that Sean Hutton wrote to the Winnipeg Sun, “For anyone out there who’s crazy enough to envision a national NDP government take a look at the disaster they’ve created in Manitoba! Who’s crazy enough to want that?”