Manitoba premier says he’ll listen to Winnipeg’s requests for new tax powers

WINNIPEG — Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew didn’t make any commitments Friday on possible new municipal taxes in Winnipeg.

Kinew said he has a good relationship with Mayor Scott Gillingham and will listen to city hall. But he made no promises when asked whether he would approve new taxes being floated by the city as options to solve a revenue crunch.

“We’ll definitely be a listening government, as we always are,” Kinew said.

The city has commissioned a polling firm to ask people whether they would prefer to see Winnipeg get more money from the province, cut services, raise property taxes by more than 3.5 per cent or impose new municipal taxes. Any new taxes would require approval from the Manitoba government.

Among the items floated for a possible new municipal tax are liquor sales, vehicle registration, items ordered online for delivery, vacant homes, commercial parking and land transfers with an exemption for first-time homebuyers.

“Our city has grown by 65,000 people in the last three years,” Gillingham said Friday.

“There is greater demand for city services across the city. We have not seen a corresponding revenue increase.”

Gillingham said the various tax scenarios are hypothetical, and public response to the poll is expected in a week or two.

“Once we have that information, it’ll give us a better sense of how to guide our discussions with the province of Manitoba.”

The former Progressive Conservative government froze municipal operating grants for several years before boosting them by an average of 28 per cent in 2023. The NDP government, after winning last year’s election, has committed to annual increases of two per cent.

That hasn’t prevented Winnipeg’s fiscal situation from becoming more serious, Gillingham said.

The province has yet to agree to an earlier request from the city for a $1-a-month fee on all phone bills in order to upgrade 911 services. The city had counted on the money for this year’s budget.

Kinew was noncommittal on that fee as well on Friday. He said he’s open to discussions with the mayor but must also keep people’s cost of living in mind.

“The average person is coming out of a period of high inflation. Interest rates are coming down, but they’re still high … so we’ve got to keep life affordable for the average person out there,” Kinew said.

Municipalities have said for years that they need new funding that better keeps up with the cost of providing services. Municipal property taxes don’t automatically increase in line with the economy, unlike so-called growth taxes at higher levels of government such as income and sales taxes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2024.

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press