Keystone Agricultural Producers hopes to influence the debate during Manitoba’s upcoming provincial election campaign.
The province goes to the polls Oct. 4 in what is expected to be one of the closest races in history between the incumbent NDP and the opposition Progressive Conservatives.
Given the closeness of the race, any issue, large or small, could turn the tide.
As a result, groups such as KAP are taking advantage of the political uncertainty to push their issues to the fore.
The farm group has more allies than usual this election because it has aligned itself with other associations on the issue of education taxes in Manitoba.
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KAP is among 40 organizations that have joined forces on a campaign and a website called letspayfair.com. The coalition’s goal is to reduce the provincial government’s reliance on property taxes to fund education.
The letspayfair.com website says the NDP government promised in the 2008 budget to increase its share of education funding to 80 percent but is only picking up 65.4 percent. The remainder comes from property taxes.
KAP president Doug Chorney wants the government to deliver on its promise and follow the lead of other provinces that have eliminated education tax from property tax bills.
“Over the last few years the province has played with removing ‘this education levy’ and increasing ‘that education credit’ in a complicated game to fund education from property taxes. Let’s make this simple and get education taxes off property,” he said in a statement.
Another key issue that KAP wants to raise during the election is the need for a comprehensive water management strategy in Manitoba.
A Probe Research poll released in late June indicated that the NDP and PCs are in a dead heat at 44 percent.
The NDP has moved to the political centre and avoided major scandals during its 12 years in government, but its lengthy hold on power may be its primary weakness, said Bill Neville, a former University of Manitoba political science professor.
Manitobans may support the Tories simply because it’s time for a change, he added.
On the other hand, the NDP have a stranglehold on Winnipeg constituencies and the PCs may fail to overcome the urban perception that Tories in Manitoba are rural, right wing and redneck.
