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CONRAD SWEATMAN \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Samia Leake and her mother shop at Save-on-Foods; the pair would not have saved very much under the upcoming PST extension.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
NDP Premier Wab Kinew calls it \u201cthe most important thing that a provincial government ever did in the history of Manitoba.\u201d Meanwhile, Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan accuses the cut of merely \u201csprinkling pennies everywhere\u201d while favouring \u201cmillionaires and billionaires\u201d \u2014 owners of grocery chains.<\/p>\n
After a lot of delays and fighting, the extension to the tax exemption, which already includes basic groceries such as milk, meat and bread (as well as tofu, for that matter) to prepared meals, snacks and soft drinks (though not booze) \u2014 is officially moving ahead after Manitoba\u2019s 2026 Budget Implementation Act passed on May 29, right before the legislature\u2019s summer recess.<\/p>\n
Walk into a grocery chain or a local convenience store, and you might find shoppers and grocers are far less tribal about the cut, if they think about it all.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the most noticeable part of the grocery receipt, when we go through it,\u201d says Samia Leake, a 28-year-old psychology student and mental health worker.<\/p>\n
Scanning the bill at Save-on-Foods, where she and her mom regularly shop, she finally finds it: $4.44 in PST on a $283.68 bill. Government officials predict the cut will save Manitoba families about $100 per year \u2014 a few bucks here, a few there.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t CONRAD SWEATMAN \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Samia Leake searches her grocery bill to find the PST savings: $4.44 on this trip.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI actually find it a little comical; I almost cackled. I wasn\u2019t sure I was looking at the right place,\u201d Leake says.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not that they don\u2019t buy things targeted by the consumption tax. Near the end of their shop \u2014 after stocking up on basic groceries and staples for cooking Guyanese food \u2014 Leake and her mom linger in the snack aisle.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do like our chips and cookies. It\u2019s the little things,\u201d says Leake\u2019s mother with a laugh.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I don\u2019t think people should be punished for that!\u201d adds Leake.<\/p>\n The PST is applied to non-essentials such as junk food \u2014 including \u201cchips, crisps, puffs, curls or sticks,\u201d to quote from the list of exemptions detailed in the Government of Manitoba\u2019s March information notice about the cut.<\/p>\n However, it\u2019s not that simple: the PST applies in general to ready-made-food and drinks. That also means prepared vegetables and fruit, samosas, rotisserie chickens \u2014 unprocessed or less-processed food that you might grab on the run.<\/p>\n \u201cI wonder where that cost will come from in terms of public funding, what\u2019s going to take the hit.\u201d<\/p>\n This explains why PST is sometimes considered a tax on the less economically fortunate. Processed foods are often cheapest per calorie and if you\u2019re a single or working parent \u2014 or even a dual-income family that can\u2019t easily afford child care \u2014 a fast and convenient meal can mean a lot.<\/p>\n Also, critics call the PST regressive, arguing that households of lesser means spend a larger chunk of their income on everyday taxable purchases. They have less money to put away for savings, so a flat tax takes a proportionally bigger bite.<\/p>\n Though she works almost full time, Leake lives with her mom so she can save up while finishing her degree and planning her next steps. She doesn\u2019t always have time to cook and, while she\u2019s not big on lattes, she\u2019s happy for a little bit of extra pocket change.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I don\u2019t anticipate noticing savings very much,\u201d she adds. Leake says they would probably buy roughly the same grocery items with or without the tax.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t CONRAD SWEATMAN \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Leake, while indicating she identifies with the NDP more than other parties, also worries about how the NDP\u2019s tax cut \u2014 predicted to reduce government revenue by $32 million \u2014 might indirectly affect people like her who work in health care and outreach fields, as well as those who regularly depend on their services.<\/p>\n \u201cI wonder where that cost will come from in terms of public funding, what\u2019s going to take the hit,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s my biggest trouble, as someone witnessing every day the consequences of austerity.\u201d<\/p>\n Leake\u2019s concerns echo the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), which has been critical of the PST cut.<\/p>\n \u201cThe risk that\u2019s run when the cost of this is very high is that it diminishes capacity to invest in other services, which we know can have an effect on affordability in other ways,\u201d says CCPA senior researcher Niall Harney.<\/p>\n Harney and his colleagues also contend that a PST cut isn\u2019t the win for progressives some think it is. While lower-income households may spend a higher proportion of their income on PST taxes, the CCPA counters that high-income households still tend to spend more money at the grocery store, saving more money overall.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople closer to the poverty line \u2026 these are the people who are really struggling most with affordability and the cost of food and rent, right?\u201d Harney says. \u201cThey\u2019re going to see significantly less of a benefit from this PST holiday than they would if (Employment and Income Assistance) rates were raised.\u201d<\/p>\n Stopping nearly 20 pedestrians in the mixed-income, diverse neighbourhood of West Broadway reveals that only a couple are aware of the July 1 scheduled cut.<\/p>\n \u201cGroceries are too expensive,\u201d says one. \u201cOne hundred per cent\u2026 It\u2019s gonna put more money back into people\u2019s pockets who are below median income. That\u2019s a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Managers and clerks at neighbourhood grocery and convenience stores are likewise unaware of the tax cuts.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t CONRAD SWEATMAN \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Grocer Ramsey Zeid says the PST tax holiday will drive up his labour costs.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Many of them do not stand to benefit from it, as it does not apply to small retailers and restaurants. Because of this exclusion, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and others have accused the Manitoba government of creating an unfair two-tiered system favouring large-scale grocery chains.<\/p>\n Food Fare, a successful chain with five Winnipeg locations that will be exempt from PST, is not just family-owned, but family-run.<\/p>\n Co-owner Ramsey Zeid has been thinking a lot about the upcoming tax holiday.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great benefit to stores, it\u2019s a great benefit to customers \u2026 but we\u2019ve got thousands of items that we have to go through and take the PST off,\u201d he says from Food Fare\u2019s Maryland location.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s 12-packs, six-packs, two- litre (bottles), mini-cans, the 24-packs. And then there\u2019s Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Coke, Cherry Coke.\u201d<\/p>\n Zeid suggests that adapting to the tax holiday shifts administrative burdens onto businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to cost me more labour than most families save in a year,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n Zeid has nevertheless been playful in his public dealings with the NDP government over the issue.<\/p>\n After Kinew posed for cameras while eating rotisserie chicken during a March news conference on the PST cut, Zeid posted a video to Instagram promising to give away five chickens each Sunday at the Maryland location until the premier visited Food Fare to try it. So far, this social media op has not materialized.<\/p>\n \u201cI bumped into him, and he\u2019s like, \u2018Any time you want me to come, just tell me.\u2019 And to his defence I haven\u2019t set up a date,\u201d he says, laughing.<\/p>\n It may surprise some to see Royden Brousseau publicly championing an NDP initiative. The 39-year-old ran as a Conservative candidate in Winnipeg South Centre in the 2025 federal election, finishing second to Liberal MP Ben Carr.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a political win; $30 million sounds like a lot to a normal person trying to pay the bills, but Manitoba has a $27-billion budget. So, you know, that\u2019s about a tenth of a per cent of the budget,\u201d he says. (Manitoba\u2019s total projected expenditures for the 2026-27 fiscal year are $27.3 billion.) \u201cIt\u2019s not going to cost Manitobans a fortune.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Royden Brousseau shops at a local grocery store on Kenaston Boulevard.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n While the politico in him can\u2019t help but think big picture about the effects and optics of the NDP\u2019s cut, he says he\u2019s also grateful for it as a father of three.<\/p>\n \u201cI come religiously the first Tuesday of every month to the Linden Woods Safeway, to save 10 per cent, and get the odds and sods that our family still needs,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve got debts, we\u2019ve got a mortgage payments.\u201d<\/p>\n Brousseau, an engineer by training who works in finance, took a professional gamble in running for federal politics last year \u2014 pausing his career outside politics for a longer period than anticipated. Potential PST savings last Tuesday would have worked out to $5.54 on a bill of $324, he says he won\u2019t take the new savings for granted.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, Brousseau recognizes only so much more can be done by tinkering with PST to address affordability, with most groceries already exempt.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember the opening scene of Super Troopers, where these cops play a prank by trying to pull over a car that\u2019s already on the side of the road. And (the passengers) go, \u2018We can\u2019t pull over any further!\u2019 The NDP can\u2019t reduce the PST any more; groceries are already virtually tax-free.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Royden Brousseau shops at a local grocery store on Kenaston Blvd Tuesday, June 2, 2026. PST has been cut on groceries. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Brousseau also observes that affordability is a national as well as regional issue, and provincial governments have limited scope for remedial measures they can take. National data show that wages have tended to lag behind post-pandemic inflation, leaving many struggling to stay ahead of rising living costs.<\/p>\n This is felt in concrete, painful ways \u2014 the 2022 Canadian Housing Survey, for instance, showed that nearly one in four Canadians spend as much as 30 per cent of their income on shelter.<\/p>\n While politicians and policy wonks continue to debate fixes, for his part Brousseau believes there\u2019s nothing like the relief of more money in hand.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that in a lot of ways (my family\u2019s) in a fortunate position. But I don\u2019t know how some families do it with inflation\u2026 I think things are really tough for a lot of families,\u201d Brousseau says. \u201cAnd a hundred bucks is a hundred bucks.\u201d<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/conradsweatman<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Conrad Sweatman Conrad Sweatman is an arts reporter and feature writer. Before joining the Free Press full-time in 2024, he worked in the U.K. and Canadian cultural sectors, freelanced for\u00a0outlets including The Walrus, VICE and Prairie Fire. Read more about Conrad.<\/a><\/p>\n
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\nThough she works almost full time, Leake lives with her mom so she can save up while finishing her degree. She doesn\u2019t anticipate noticeable savings with the removal of the PST.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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