Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory...

I don't think it is a controversial statement to say that the PCs have had a bad few weeks. From Pallister's home purchase story to the Brayd Mazurkiewich's inevitable and unsurprising public outing as a racist-bigot.  The PCs own behavior managed to push off the front page what should have been the conversation over the holidays at many family reunions in the province.

The fact that Selinger reneged on one his main election promise; that Manitoba will be in deficit for more years; and that our yearly deficit is larger than expected even if revenues are up.

The increased spending are even in departments that are easier to predict year of year which points to administrative incompetence.

Rather than discuss the fact that Selinger and the NDP are quickly running out of excuses for running up the provinces debt, Manitobans will be discussing Pallister's new house and Maz's "freeloading Indians" comment.

As the expression goes, the PCs were able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory this month. Giving the NDP the best Christmas gift they could have hoped for.

A crazy idea: Income taxes

A few weeks ago when Brian Pallister proposed increasing the basic personal exemption I wrote this op-ed I thought of submitting to the Frep. I first heard this idea from my Econ prof during the 1st year of my masters. It has been floating in my head ever since. In the end I figured the idea was a bit too crazy for the Frep but tonight I decided to put on the blog to get some feedback! Let me know what you think. I have a few other crazy policy ideas that I might throw up here if there is interest. 

It is time to expand the conversation about taxes

Up or down? A Carbon tax to save the environment or a job killing tax on everything? Tax credits for enrolling your kids into a cultural or sport activity. The discussion about taxes in Canada over the past few years have revolved around these few simple easy to understand vote-buying concepts. I have also done some basic calculations as to how certain increases-decreases in budgets could impact departments. If anyone is interested in these I'm happy to share them. 

Last week, Progressive Conservative Party Leader Brian Pallister proposed increasing the minimum exemption for income taxes in Manitoba. This policy is desperately needed in Manitoba as it would help alleviate poverty and ensure Manitoba remains competitive with other western provinces.

However, in a healthy democracy, the discussion surrounding taxes needs to go beyond the simple rates we pay as citizens. It is time that as citizens, we get a greater say as to how our taxes are spent. 

The federal government’s use of an omnibus budget highlights this need even more. The use of omnibus budget bills clearly reflects the fact that local Members of Parliament have lost the ability to have any meaningful impact on government’s spending priorities.  Citizens must be empowered to have a say as to how their tax dollars are spent as parliament no longer represents their will.

Involving citizens directly in the budget making process is one step in reengaging citizens, strengthening our democracy and making governments more responsive to our needs.

The idea is straightforward; an income tax code where citizens decide which percentage of his or her taxes to allocate to each department.  If we can design such a cumbersome tax code with a multitude of evermore ridiculous tax exemptions, why not a tax code where people can decide where their money is allocated?

Take for example the provincial government here in Manitoba. It collected $2.8 billion in personal income taxes according to its 2012 budget. This represented 25% of total revenues for the province. In broad lines, Manitoba spent 44% of its budget on health, 20% on Education, 9% of Family services, 19% on Community, Economic and Resource Development and 7% on Justice and Other Expenditures.

Under this proposal, a taxpayer could decide to allocate his or her income taxes in the same proportion as these or increase their spending on health over community, economic and resource development. Each and every person would have the opportunity to support their priorities. This would ensure that citizens are more engaged as to how their money is spent. And increase demands for accountability from those who spent it.

For politicians and bureaucrats who may fear the prospect of direct democracy, it is important to note that only 25% of the budget would be impacted. This would allow an important amount of citizen participation but would still leave 75% of the budget in the hands of politicians and bureaucrats.

Ultimately the impact of such a move should be hotly debated. Would we see a large shift in public policy or a continuation of the status quo? Would health care continue to see its large increases? Would military budgets see reductions to the benefit of environmental policy? Would we see a shrinking or an enlargement of government? 

Our democracy can only win by discussing these questions and it is exactly this debate I hope to foster by proposing this.