Manitobans say deficits OK if government spends on infrastructure

A vast majority of Manitobans support their government running a deficitin order to spend on infrastructure, a new poll suggests.

According to the pollby Probe Research, 73 per cent of Manitobansbacked deficitswhen asked the following question:

"Thinking about the Manitoba economy, do you believe the next Manitoba government should avoid having deficits, even if this means cutting back on infrastructure spending; or is it acceptable for the next Manitoba government to have a modest deficit in order to spend on infrastructure."

When the respondents were broken down by business CEOs, however, the margin was much more narrow. Only 59 per cent were in support.

The support also varied among respondents, depending on their political affiliation. Those who were Progressive Conservative were least likely to support the deficits, while Liberals and NDP were both above 80 per cent in support.

Answers also varied depending on gender, age, education, and income levels.

Manitobansgo to the polls in April 2016 to choose their next government.

The poll was conducted via telephone interviews conducted withrandom-digitdialingbetween Dec.3-15. Thesampling of 1,000 Manitoba adults provides 95 per cent certainty that the results are within +/- 3.1 percentage points of what they would have been if the province's entire adult population had been interviewed.