Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press

The Manitoba government's plan to balance the budget in two years will require tighter spending restraint — something the Opposition Progressive Conservatives say is unrealistic.

The provincial budget released this week fleshes out the NDP government's promise to end a string of annual deficits that stretch back to 2009, with two exceptions, by the 2027-28 fiscal year.

The Manitoba government is hiking capital spending and introducing new tax rules in a deficit budget aimed at safeguarding the province from tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump.

The NDP government said the threat of prolonged tariffs from the U.S. and China cannot be ignored, and new public spending and tax changes will protect jobs.

“We didn’t start this fight, but we are not backing down,” Finance Minister Adrien Sala told reporters Thursday.

“We’re Trump-proofing our economy.”

The two men vying for the leadership of Manitoba's Progressive Conservative party squared off Wednesday night in a debate that touched on crime, health care, taxes and other issues.

Obby Khan, a former cabinet minister who now sits on the Opposition side of the legislature, again pitched himself as a big-tent conservative who could help the party regain support in Winnipeg.

The Manitoba budget to be released Thursday is expected to include help for businesses and new spending to create infrastructure jobs.

The spending plan will reduce the Health and Post Secondary Education Tax Levy -- commonly called the payroll tax -- for roughly 1,000 businesses, a government source told The Canadian Press.

The Manitoba government is entering new territory with a plan to crack down on election disinformation and fine people up to $20,000 a day if offending material is not removed, a veteran political analyst said Wednesday.

The Manitoba government put forward a bill Tuesday aimed at cracking down on election disinformation. It proposes several provisions against deliberate attempts to undermine confidence in elections and the use of altered images of candidates and election officials.

"This is keeping up with the times. It's enhancing some of the legislation that we have," Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said.

Just under 11,000 people have taken out memberships in the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba in time to vote for next month's leadership race — up from 2,200 members the party had when the race was launched last summer, party officials said Monday.

The party did not release a breakdown of how many memberships were sold by each of the two candidates before the Feb. 28 cutoff. Neither did the candidates' teams.

A strike by thousands of health-care workers in Manitoba has been called off after their union says it reached a tentative deal on a new contract. 

The Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals says the strike planned for today is postponed until workers can vote on the tentative agreement.  

The union says 7,000 of its members, including paramedics, physiotherapists, midwives and social workers have been without a collective agreement since last April.

The Manitoba government signalled Thursday it may curtail exports of hydroelectricity to the United States in response to tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, but stopped short of cutting back supply immediately or adding surcharges.

The NDP government issued a directive to Crown-owned Manitoba Hydro that says cabinet approval is now needed for any new major power purchase or export contract with bodies in the U.S., or any extensions or cancellations of existing deals.

The Manitoba government is planning to eliminate a little-used rule that says students must sing "God Save the King" every school day.

The provision has not been enforced in decades but was recently revived in the Mountain View School Division in western Manitoba.

The move was met with public opposition from those who said it was not consistent with truth and reconciliation measures.

Education Minister Tracy Schmidt says the bill, if passed, would also require school boards set up a policy on land and treaty acknowledgments in schools.