If Canadian voters are wondering why the federal NDP is not as popular in Manitoba as it is in the rest of the country, they should look at the party’s record in government there to figure out why.

As Canadians flirt with electing their first national NDP government, they may want to examine how Manitoba has been governed in recent years to get an idea of how a socialist government operates.

Tom Mulcair’s NDP are leading in the polls in many parts of the country. But not Manitoba.

A Probe Research poll over the summer showed only 23% of Manitobans would vote for the NDP federally, well below the Conservatives’ 43% showing.

There’s good reason for that.

The NDP in Manitoba has been a disaster.

We all know the economic fall-out brought on by former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae in the early 1990s.

Premier Greg Selinger’s government in Manitoba is a more current example of how an NDP administration governs in a modern economy.

Canadian voters should take a good look at it.

After all, Mulcair has praised the NDP in Manitoba.

If elected, he would no doubt bring the same high tax, fiscal expansionary policies to Ottawa that Manitoba is now plagued with.

What Canadians should know about an NDP administration is it believes government should play a significant role in our lives. The cost of that — including the empire-building and bureaucratic growth that goes along with an expanding government — is not a concern for the NDP.

Its overarching philosophy is that if taxpayers have to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for more government, that’s the price they must pay to live in a socialistic society.

Under an NDP government, Manitoba pays the second-highest income taxes in Canada.

The NDP raised the retail sales tax to 8% in 2013 after promising not to do so.

They expanded the PST three times while in office, raised the gas tax and increased the Land Transfer Tax.

They have created a structural deficit they can’t get out of, increased the provincial debt to record levels and Manitoba’s credit rating has been downgraded.

This is the approach the federal NDP want to bring to Parliament.

Canadians should be very worried about that.