COLUMN: Think Again – NDP politicians are coming for your money

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once said, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”

Judging by the projected budget deficit ($1.6 billion and counting), Manitoba’s NDP government is finding out just how easy it is to run out of other people’s money. There’s a limit to how much money you can squeeze out of hard-working Manitobans.

Unfortunately, it looks like Premier Wab Kinew plans to double down on failed NDP economics. During a recent radio interview, Kinew hinted at a tax hike coming for the wealthiest Manitobans.

“We’re going to have some help in the budget on the education property tax front, and we might be asking the top one per cent to help us out with that,” explained Kinew.

It sounds so innocuous. Kinew intends to “ask” the top one percent to contribute just a little more money to help the provincial budget. Who could possibly have a problem with that?

Well, let’s consider who might be in this top one percent. According to a recent Winnipeg Free Press story, an annual income of $235,000 puts you in the top one percent. While that is a healthy income, it isn’t exactly eye-popping wealth. When most people hear about the top one percent, they tend to think about millionaires and billionaires—not hard-working professionals who make $235,000 per year.

For example, according to Canada’s Job Bank, the median income of a family physician in Manitoba is just over $240,000 per year. When you factor out the doctors who work only part-time, it quickly becomes clear that a new one per cent tax would hit most family doctors right in their pocketbooks. That’s not exactly the message we should send as we try to entice more doctors to our province, especially when these new doctors are still paying off hefty loans from medical school.

Or consider a small business owner who is finally experiencing success. After years of financial sacrifices and setbacks, the business is finally taking off. Does it really make sense to penalize that business owner with yet another tax just at the point where the company is experiencing success? The last thing we should do is discourage business owners from expanding their businesses.

Whenever I hear left-wing politicians talk about making the rich pay their “fair share,” I always wonder what amount would finally satisfy them. We already have a progressive income tax structure where wealthy people pay a much higher percentage of their income in taxes than lower-income people. So, what income tax rate on the wealthy would finally be “enough” for the NDP?

The answer, of course, is that no level of taxation will ever satisfy them. That’s because they see society primarily in class terms. When professionals or business owners become rich, the typical reaction among left-wing politicians is that their wealth is illegitimate for one reason or another and needs to be confiscated by the government. Of course, Kinew knows he can’t put it so starkly, so he softens the blow by saying that he will “ask” the top one per cent to provide a little extra “help” for the budget.

The problem with this approach is that it does little more than sow seeds of jealousy. It would make far more sense to look at how we can help Manitobans keep more of their hard-earned money. If we focus on raising everyone’s income level instead of promoting class rivalry, we could finally get somewhere as a province.

Premier Wab Kinew has already run out of other people’s money. He just doesn’t realize it yet.

Michael Zwaagstra is a teacher and deputy mayor of Steinbach. He can be reached at mzwaagstra@shaw.ca.