Meanwhile, in Canada

While Americans focused on the results in New York, the Canadian province of Manitoba sent a message to its tax-hiking government: get out (CBC).

The Manitoba Progressive Conservatives under Brian Pallister won a majority government in a historic fashion Tuesday night, putting up some of the biggest numbers by any party in the province’s history.

In the process, the PCs ended the long reign of the Manitoba New Democrats, in office since 1999, as the NDP’s vote collapsed in every part of the province.

The PC victory was significant. The party captured 40 seats and 53 per cent of the vote, its best performance in modern history. Under its current moniker, the previous record for the Tories had been 36 seats in 1962 and 49 per cent of the vote in 1977.

Indeed, the last time any party won a majority of the popular vote in Manitoba was 1915. This result came despite the fact that PC leader and Premier-elect Brian Pallister flatly rejected the notion that he needed to be “likeable” to win (Macleans).

“I know that that’s the modern poli-sci concept — you’ve got to be a likeable guy and stuff. Likeability doesn’t enter into my concept of what’s the most important thing,” he told Winnipeg Free Press’ Bartley Kives. “I don’t make a great effort — I know I don’t — to be a likeable person. I didn’t get into this business because I needed adulation, I guess is what I’m saying. I got into this business because I thought maybe I could help, and I’ll build a team to help.”

So what led Manitobans to elect a guy who flatly doesn’t care if they like him? Three letter: T-A-X (same link).

Tombstone manufacturers had begun their chiseling in 2013 when Selinger hiked the PST (DJM: PST = Provincial Sales Tax) to eight per cent — precisely what he told voters he wouldn’t do, two years earlier.

Once again, a party in power tried to raise taxes after promising it wouldn’t. Once again, voters showed them the door. This should have relevance on our side of the 49th parallel, but so far there’s no indication of that.

Brian Kirwin
has noted that the Republican Party seems to think of itself as healthier than it really is. I think he’s right, but he doesn’t diagnose the problem. Lest we forget, the entire GOP – from Mitt Romney on down – ran on tax reform and against tax increases in 2012. While Romney lost, the GOP did maintain its majority in the House of Representatives – which it used to leverage the re-elected president into ending the payroll tax reduction from 2010 and effectively raise taxes on over 160 million of their fellow Americans.

Meanwhile, here in Virginia, Republicans run against tax hikes every other November, while enacting three different tax increases in the last baker’s-dozen years while rejecting a proposed corporate tax cut by Governor McAuliffe.

Yet when voters react badly to this sort of thing (see McAuliffe’s election itself in 2013, right after Bob McDonnell rammed the largest tax hike in at least 40 years through the General Assembly), Republicans act as if they were blind-sided. The worst part is that they may have actually been blind-sided, due to their own refusal to admit the problem…

…and if the party nominates Trump, it will happen all over again. For all of Trump’s bombast and inconsistencies, his True North for a quarter century is rank protectionism, which means nothing more than higher sales taxes on imports (along with threats to tax anyone who makes business decisions he doesn’t like). A Trump-led Republican Party will once again speak out of both sides of its mouth on taxes, only this time the tax hikes will be hiding in plain sight.

If our neighbors to the norht are any indication, that won’t go over very well (National Post).

Tell the whole truth about taxes.

Three years ago Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger raised the provincial portion of the sales tax by one point, to eight per cent from seven.

He had promised during the 2011 election campaign not to do that. Selinger paid for his transgression ever afterward. On Tuesday, his whole government paid.

…also recall the case of B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, who promised in the 2009 provincial election campaign not to harmonize sales taxes.

Afterward, he did just that. Then it came out that officials had been planning the move during the campaign.

Campbell’s approval rating fell to nine per cent. The next year, he quit.

Complete honesty in these matters won’t always prevent defeat, but perceived dishonesty virtually guarantees it.

You’ve been warned, GOP (and RPV).

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