Progressive Conservative Leader Heather Stefanson launched her re-election campaign on Tuesday, promising to provide Manitobans relief from the Trudeau carbon tax.
Stefanson also promised to lower provincial income taxes over each of the next four years if she wins a third consecutive election.
Her plan would particularly benefit those in the lowest income tax bracket. By 2028, an individual earning $50,000 annually would save a total of $1,900 per year, she said.
Stefanson also promised to provide relief to those suffering from the federal Liberal carbon tax, saying she’d mandate Manitoba Hydro to remove the carbon tax on hydro within the first 10 days of being re-elected.
Many Manitobans heat their homes with natural gas, to which the carbon tax is applied, rather than hydroelectric generation.
“How do you expect some Manitobans to heat their homes this winter?” she said.
The provincial election will take place on October 3.
Stefanson’s only real competition comes from the New Democratic Party (NDP) and its leader Wab Kinew, a former rapper who in 2003 was charged with domestic assault and drunk driving. He was acquitted for the domestic assault charges in 2004, though he pleaded guilty to beating a taxi driver.
Kinew is focusing his campaign mostly on providing better healthcare.
Provincial polls haven’t been conducted in months but according to 338 Canada, the NDP has a slight lead over Stefanson’s Progressive Conservative Party. The NDP are projected to win between 24-36 seats, compared to the Conservatives winning between 19-30 seats.
29 seats are needed to win a majority government.
A June 18 update also suggests the NDP has a 67% chance of winning a majority government.
Stefanson supports parents
Last week, Stefanson promised to introduce parental rights legislation if re-elected.
Subsequently, federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre seemed to have shifted from saying the school pronoun policy debate is a provincial matter — to saying he supports parental rights.
