For homeowners it's unavoidable – insurance. Now Premier Brian Pallister is pledging to ease that financial burden. "We're going to reduce taxes further," said Pallister. A week after the overall provincial sales tax was lowered from eight per cent to seven per cent, Pallister says if re-elected, his government will remove the PST from home insurance for owners and renters. A PC news release says that would save the average household $70 a year. "We're going to take the PST off of home insurance,” said Pallister. “For most families in Manitoba your home is the most important asset you'll ever have." In 2012 the former NDP government added PST to the cost of insuring a home. Current NDP leader Wab Kinew says Pallister's pledge is an interesting proposal. "On the broader point of affordability, I mean yeah, let’s find ways to make life cheaper for Manitobans," said Kinew. But Kinew questions why the start of Pallister's campaign is focused on insurance. "I do find it a little odd that a party leader, who has been under fire for his close ties to the insurance industry, starts his campaign on the issue of insurance," said Kinew. Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont says the tax cut on home insurance is a drop in the bucket. "They're making a tiny little step when we all know there are some really big things that have to be dealt with in Manitoba," said Lamont. The premier says the promise, and others like it to come, are about giving people a break while federal and municipal taxes are going up. "We believe that money is important to put back in the hands of the people who work so hard to get it in the first place,” said Pallister. The premier would not say when the tax cut would come into effect in a second term or how much it would cost the government.
