Tory leader Brian Pallister is vowing to spend at least $1 billion a year on infrastructure if his party forms government following the April 19 election.

Actually, that's about what the NDP government is spending now. And it's slightly less than what the Selinger government is promising to spend over the next few years to upgrade roads, highways, bridges and other "core" infrastructure assets.

In 2014-15, the province spent $1.037 billion on infrastructure. In 2015-16, the NDP is on track to spend $1.08 billion. And government's long-term projection pegs infrastructure spending at between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion annually over the next three years.

So, what was the point of Pallister's announcement on Tuesday? He's not proposing to outspend the NDP on roads, highways and bridges, nor is he pledging to cut the infrastructure budget. He's saying he'll spend about the same -- "at least" $1 billion a year, which could be $1.1 billion or $1.2 billion.

The difference, according to Pallister, is that under his plan the infrastructure budget would be more stable and a Conservative government would spend the money more wisely.

Well, maybe.

Infrastructure spending under the NDP has been relatively stable in recent years, if stability means steady increases to the infrastructure budget every year. Sure, the NDP has underspent its infrastructure budget some years. And one could argue they didn't spend enough on capital projects in non-election periods. But since 2012, infrastructure spending has grown every year and is up 48%.

Could that money be spent more wisely?

Sure. There are always more efficient and effective ways to roll out major capital projects.

(Putting an end to forced unionization on major capital projects would be a good start). But Pallister has to provide more detail on that if he wants to convince Manitobans that he can get a better bang for his buck on infrastructure than the NDP or others can.

Pallister also said that he would do a better job of prioritizing infrastructure projects. He accused the NDP of funding low-priority infrastructure projects to buy votes around election time, like paving a road somewhere that doesn't really need paving.

If the NDP is really doing that -- and there's been no evidence to suggest they are -- the onus is on Pallister to tell us where these projects are. Otherwise he's just blowing smoke.

Mostly, though, what all parties in the upcoming election have to do if they're going to promise massive amounts of spending on infrastructure is tell Manitobans how they're going to pay for it.

Infrastructure is financed largely through borrowing. The Selinger government has tried to give the impression that capital projects like road repair, bridge construction and flood protection are paid for in large part from the extra point on the PST after the NDP raised the sales tax to 8% in 2013.

Actually, it doesn't work that way. The province doesn't use "cash to capital" to finance infrastructure. It borrows the money, amortizes the assets over time and repays the principal with interest. In the short term, that drives up the province's debt load, which has skyrocketed in recent years and is the principal reason the Selinger government got a credit rating downgrade last year.

PST money, like all taxation revenue, goes into general revenues. It's used for operating costs, including paying interest on old and new debt. It's not used to "pay for infrastructure," as the NDP tries to suggest.

So when political parties, including Pallister's Tories, make election promises in the upcoming campaign about how much they intend to spend on infrastructure, what they should really explain is how much more debt they're prepared to take on if they form government.

Because debt is how infrastructure is financed. And right now, the Manitoba government is drowning in it.