Hacks & Wonks

A few months ago I was commissioned to do some plain-language writing for a report about the power grid. Eye-opening! I don't see why Manitoba would need to raise domestic rates. You've got a huge chunk of North America by the nuts since you're one of the few jurisdictions running a surplus. You can afford to keep domestic consumption low priced and just keep hiking up export prices with impunity since your customers have few if any choices.

We waste a lot of power. Per capita, Manitoba would be amongst the top juicers. Raising the price would seriously put a stop to that and usage would drop as households adapt and more importantly, as commercial usage is adapted.

And that energy - unburned at home - could be sold outside our borders instantly. Like yesterday it could be sold.

PS: From here, it appears to be looking good for the election day. Any potential shocker ridings I should be watching?

That is more revenue from internal consumption (because the price hike would outpace the drop in usage), and more importantly, completely new revenue streams coming with money from outside the province thanks to the additional exports.

The government then accepts a quarterly "dividend" from the Crown corp, and that revenue - conservatively estimated at around $1.2-1.5 billion a year - is then used to cut Manitoba's harmful taxes like the payroll tax, corporate tax and most importantly, income taxes.

Manitoba gains from cutting our usage (tidy little Green Policy which would do more than tax rebates on Hybrids ever will....ditto ethanol), we increase the government revenue as a way of easing ourselves off the Ottawa pogey, AND we bring new money from outside the province INTO the province, which right now is the biggest thing killing us.

Too little money is simply circulating and not enough new inputs are coming in.

And in the end, we've gone at least two decades with the "lowest cost electricity" policy and it is safe to say that as an economy booster...It didn't work. Very few "big energy users" have located here and almost no one has used "low Hydro costs" as a major consideration to move here. (It's a consideration, sure, but it doesn't usually hit Top Five in motives.)

I'd like to use the "low taxes" policy for awhile and see how that shakes out.

I'm

I was about to say...

From here, I'm hearing nothing but good things about the election prospects. Any good "shocker" ridings I should be keeping an eye on?

Keep an eye on Regina South and Regina Qu'Appelle as bell-weathers of a better than expected result (Regina Wascana Plains is allegedly already in the bag, but that's what they said the last two times too).

Similarly, if we lead in more than 6 seats in Saskatoon at any point in the evening of e-day, that means the tide is turning in a big way. There's been a lot of interesting man-on-the-street talk coming out of S'toon and the NDP have been campaigning there almost exclusively. It would cripple them if they suffered major losses there.

Conversely, a bad SP showing in S'toon (let's say 4-5) would spell a distinctly weak, hobbled SP government that would always be watching its back and might only last one term. Saskatoon is where the long-term game will all be won or lost.

Moose Jaw might be a potential shocker area. Apparently there is a major local issue (hospital funding) that's overshadowing the provincial campaign.

After the last fed election, though, I've learned to keep my expectations modest when it comes to the urban electorate anywhere in this country.