The NDP and business in Manitoba

Friday I met with Shannon Martin of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (top photo). He came to see me in the run up to the Legislative session which starts March 6 with regard to business issues in relation to the upcoming provincial budget.

He pointed out that under the NDP Manitoba has the highest provincial business tax load of all the provinces (middle graph), and the highest burden of red tape for businesses of all provinces (bottom graph). There is a lot of room for improvement. It is, sadly, characteristic of the NDP, to create an environment which is less supportive of economic growth and jobs than in other provinces. This picture is consistent with what I have heard from others lately that, even though there are skills shortages in some areas in Manitoba, there are not adequate high paying opportunities for recent graduates and we continue to lose people to other provinces.