{"id":117712,"date":"2017-09-14T01:40:02","date_gmt":"2017-09-14T05:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=117712"},"modified":"2025-01-18T15:15:46","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T20:15:46","slug":"manitobans-must-pay-health-premiums-or-face-cuts-to-services-premier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/09\/14\/manitobans-must-pay-health-premiums-or-face-cuts-to-services-premier\/","title":{"rendered":"Manitobans must pay health premiums or face cuts to services: premier"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"FILE:<\/a>
FILE: \u201cWe’re asking Manitobans what they would suggest we do, given the reality of the situation,\u201d Pallister said Wednesday as he announced the start of annual pre-budget public consultations.(Photo: Brian Pallister\/ Facebook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WINNIPEG \u2014 Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister says people have a choice: Start paying health-care premiums like residents in some other jurisdictions or prepare to see services cut.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re asking Manitobans what they would suggest we do, given the reality of the situation,\u201d Pallister said Wednesday as he announced the start of annual pre-budget public consultations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the reality that the federal government’s transfer support is reduced … this is the reality we have to face. It’s a stark reality but it’s the reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

The premium would be tied to income levels, Pallister said, and be similar to ones in British Columbia and Ontario where adults pay up to $900 a year each.<\/p>\n

Pallister said the sudden consideration of a new tax stems from the federal government’s recent decision to slow the growth in annual transfer payments \u2014 to three per cent from six per cent.<\/p>\n

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He estimated the change will cost the province $2.2 billion over the next 10 years.<\/p>\n

The announcement was a sharp turn for Pallister’s Progressive Conservative government \u2014 elected last year on promises to keep taxes in check and protect front-line services \u2014 and was condemned by opposition and labour critics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think that’s any kind of choice that Manitobans should have to make,\u201d said NDP health critic Matt Wiebe.<\/p>\n

Michelle Gawronsky, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, said health-care premiums hurt those living on fixed and low incomes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that when surveyed, Manitobans favour asking high-income earners and large corporations to pay more of their fair share to support the public services we all rely on,\u201d she said in a written statement.<\/p>\n

While Pallister cited the fiscal need for a new tax for health care, he said the government will still fulfil a campaign promise to cut the provincial sales tax to seven per cent from eight per cent before the next election, scheduled for October 2020.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Pallister’s Conservative party took the previous NDP government to court for not holding a referendum on its provincial sales tax increase, but he said a health premium doesn’t require a public vote. Provincial balanced-budget legislation requires referendums on any rise in taxes to income, sales or corporate payrolls.<\/p>\n

A health premium does not fall under those categories, Pallister said.<\/p>\n

Todd MacKay with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation called the proposal shocking. Alberta repealed its health-care premium in 2009 and Quebec eliminated it this year, MacKay said. British Columbia has cut its premium in half with an eye to scrapping it within four years.<\/p>\n

\u201cImposing a massive tax hike and spinning it as a health-care fee is a failed policy that other provinces are reversing,\u201d MacKay in a statement.<\/p>\n

The Progressive Conservative government revealed a website Wednesday that is to guide consultations for next spring’s budget and features a section on health-care premiums.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

It says there are three choices: A low premium to sustain services at their current level, a higher premium to enhance services and worker salaries, or no premium \u201cwhich would lead to reduced health-care services from current levels.\u201d The word reduced is underlined.<\/p>\n

There will be online consultations, town halls and telephone conference calls seeking public input on the premiums and other budget ideas before any final decision is made, Pallister said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WINNIPEG \u2014 Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister says people have a choice: Start paying health-care premiums like residents in some other …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":91949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,37,16],"tags":[14027,23851,23850],"class_list":["post-117712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-health","category-news","tag-brian-pallister","tag-health-premiums","tag-manitobans","mauthors-steve-lambert","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117712"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":285472,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117712\/revisions\/285472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}