Reaching a goal isn’t an accomplishment if the goal didn’t make any sense in the first place.

That’s the problem with the Manitoba government bragging about halving its projected deficit in 2025-26.

“We are keeping our promise to balance the budget over our term in government,” said Premier Wab Kinew when releasing the 2025-26 year-end financial results.

But keeping that promise won’t actually do anything to help taxpayers.

That’s because the government can “balance” the budget while still increasing the debt.

Take last year’s results: The government is highlighting that the deficit decreased to $832 million from $1.6 billion. But the government still increased the debt by about $1.4 billion compared to the year prior.

That’s because the deficit isn’t the full picture of the debt. The change in the debt doesn’t take only into account day-to-day government spending, but also routine projects like building bridges, schools and highways. But taxpayers are on the hook to pay it back all the same.

So, the government’s claim about being “on track to balance the budget next year” isn’t an accomplishment at all. It’s a political word game.

A real accomplishment would be the government using its improved financial situation to start paying down the debt this year. That would save Manitobans from another year of increasing interest charges and show the government is serious about fiscal responsibility.

Stopping the borrowing should be a top priority in Manitoba, as almost one out of every $10 that Manitobans send to the government is wasted on debt interest payments.

It’s great that Premier Wab Kinew and Finance Minister Adrien Sala are talking about fiscal responsibility at all when that language has vanished in many other legislatures across the country.

But the government’s current plan to stop adding to the debt rests only on a hope and a prayer.

That’s because the government didn’t do anything to improve its own financial situation last year. The economy outperformed expectations and the government took in more than expected in revenue.

The government projected it would borrow $2.9 billion in its 2025 third-quarter report. The public accounts show the government ended up borrowing $1.4 billion.

Kinew and Sala didn’t cut spending or make any special effort to shrink the borrowing. In fact, the government spent $65 million more than budgeted.

Instead, the government’s situation improved largely because it collected more in more taxes, including $217 million more in individual income taxes. And part of that is because of previous tax hikes, such as bracket creep.

Bracket creep is a hidden tax hike that happens when the government stops indexing tax brackets to inflation. This pushes Manitobans into higher tax brackets and increases their tax bills.

The government brought in bracket creep in Budget 2025, which will cost Manitobans up to $2,917 each by 2030.

The government shouldn’t be using tax hikes to pay down the debt. Manitobans can’t afford to pay any more taxes. Families making average incomes in Manitoba already pay more in provincial taxes than anywhere else in Western Canada.

And history shows that when the government gets more money from taxpayers, it’s likely to spend it instead of paying off loans.

The only real way for the government to stop borrowing money is by cutting spending. In Budget 2026, the government is spending $2.1 billion more than it spent only two years ago in 2024-25. If the government cuts spending to that previous all-time high, it can start to pay back its $36.5 billion worth of debt.

It’s common-sense budgeting that Manitoba families practise every day. If you can’t afford it, you don’t buy it. And right now, the government can’t afford anything new.

It’s good that the government is concerned about the increasing debt. But talk doesn’t pay down debt. Kinew and Sala need to cut wasteful spending today, so taxpayers aren’t watching the debt go up again next year.