The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Manitoba's so-called sin taxes will expand to cover pornography and violent video games if a women's rights organization gets its way. Winnipeg-based United Nations Platform for Action Committee is urging the province to implement the special taxes to help pay for underfunded women's programs. "Whenever we ask for more money for different programs, the government says, 'We don't have enough revenue,'" spokeswoman Jennifer deGroot told the National Post. "So, we're saying, 'Look. Why don't you create more sources of revenue? First of all, stop cutting taxes. Second of all, there are some more things that could be taxed.'" The specifics of the new taxes, including a definition of pornography, could be worked out between the province, women's groups, and experts, she told the newspaper. A spokesperson for Finance Minister Greg Selinger told the paper that the minister has not reviewed the concept. Sin taxes already apply to cigarettes and alcohol.
