PCs hit campaign trail, promise to fix 'broken trust' in Manitoba government

More than 300 people attended the Manitoba Progressive Conservative's election campaign launch Saturday in Winnipeg.

Tory Leader Brian Pallister addressed the crowd and then quickly turned his attention to the controversial one percentage point PST hike instituted by the Selinger government in 2013.

"When it was suggested to him (the premier) he would raise it, he said it was ridiculous nonsense," Pallister said.

"The central question in this campaign is: Do Manitobans want four more years of Greg Selinger's broken trust and broken government, or do they want genuine change and a plan that delivers results?" Pallister said in a statement.

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The PCs unveiled the party's "Better Plan for a Better Manitoba" vision at the event, which touts "tax relief for all Manitoba families" and a focus on rebuilding a "broken government."

Pallister held the PCs up as the best suited party to improve the local economy. If they get voted in this spring, one of the most important issues they'll tackle first, Pallister says, is to get "the fiscal house in order."

"The first thing is to do what hasn't been done over a number of years under the NDP and that's to take a look at the waste and overlap and duplication in spending, because old governments have a lot of that," Pallister said. "And then taking that wasteful spending and reapplying it to support our frontline services."

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The PCs said they would eliminate the PST increase Selinger introduced, focus on improving early-years education, reduce ambulance fees in the province and invest $1 billion in infrastructure annually if elected.

"Folks, with a nine-hour average wait at Concordia [Hospital], and slightly less at the Grace [Hospital], you could fly to Vancouver and back in the time you'd still be waiting for NDP health care here in Manitoba. That's got to change," he said.

The NDP claims a Pallister-led government would cut spending on jobs and key programs. Pallister redirected the question, saying voters shouldn't put much stock in attacks by the NDP because the party's credibility "evaporated a long time ago."

The campaign launch took place at the Centro Caboto Centre on Wilkes Avenue. Manitobans head to the polls April 19.