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MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
Finance Minister Adrien Sala: \u201cWe\u2019re going to reduce the cost of your grocery bill on Canada Day \u2014 that is if the PCs let us pass the bill.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposed law, which includes other measures, such as giving municipalities the authority to tax short-term rental accommodations and reduces the legislative building restoration budget by $2 million, could be held up by the Tories and delay the summer break.<\/p>\n
The Progressive Conservatives have said they want the bill to include a provincial income tax break or they won\u2019t co-operate with its speedy passage before the house rises June 1.<\/p>\n
Premier Wab Kinew has said the legislative assembly will sit through the summer to get the bill passed.<\/p>\n
\u201cDelaying the bill means delaying the savings,\u201d Sala said Thursday. \u201cWe put forward a comprehensive plan to address the affordability challenges that families are facing each and every day. That includes lowering grocery costs and increasing supports for renters and homeowners.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is no PST on basic grocery items. The bill would eliminate the seven per cent PST on all food and drinks with less than one per cent alcohol, such as snacks, pop, Slurpees, sandwiches, and takout meals.<\/p>\n
The PCs say the PST cut will save a family of four $100 annually. They want the province to increase the basic personal amount someone can make before paying income tax to $21,000 from $15,780.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will do what it takes to ensure that we are standing up for real affordability measures for Manitobans,\u201d PC finance critic Lauren Stone said Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act includes measures outlined in the April budget, such as increasing the homeowner affordability tax credit by $100 to $1,700 and the renters tax credit to $675 from $625, as well as free transit for kids in school.<\/p>\n
The bill also aims to put an end to restrictive covenants to increase competition among grocery stores, ban predatory pricing practices that unfairly charge people different prices for the same product, and undertake a comprehensive study on grocery pricing to find new ways to reduce food costs, Sala said.<\/p>\n
Tucked inside the bill is the short term accommodation tax that would allow a municipal council to impose taxes on a person who purchases the use of short-term accommodation.<\/p>\n
Sala said it gives municipalities the power to tax short-term rentals, not just hotels and motels.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019ll put that authority in their hands as they currently have with other taxing powers while requiring that they go forward with a public consult should they want to make some changes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The bill also chops $2 million from the annual pot to restore and preserve work on the legislative building \u2014 to $8 million.<\/p>\n
Sala said the cut won\u2019t delay the work set out in the Legislative Building Centennial Restoration and Preservation Act.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis just reflects a small reduction in that number,\u201d the minister said. \u201cUltimately, should we need to appropriate more, we\u2019ll come back and bring that ($2 million) forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca <\/p>\n
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Carol Sanders Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
Legislature reporter
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