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This article was published 25/2/2015 (2033 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Conservative Leader Brian Pallister says the Selinger government should not pat itself on the back too hard about rosy economic projections for the future.

Earlier this week, the government was basking in the glow of a Conference Board of Canada report that proclaimed Manitoba would have the second highest GDP growth (2.9 per cent), highest employment growth (1.8 per cent) and better-than-average retail growth in 2015.

Pallister said the economic projections aren’t as cheery as they sound because the provincial government has been mismanaging the economy for years.

"We’ve ranked ninth since 2009 in average weekly wage growth and job growth. We have more people looking for work now than we’ve had in 18 years," he said Wednesday.

The forecasted economic growth for this year coincides with construction of the massive Bipole III hydro transmission line, which is much more expensive than originally planned, in part, because of a political decision to route it on the west side of Lake Manitoba instead the east side of Lake Winnipeg, he said.

While the project will give the province a temporary economic boost in the run-up to an election — which Pallister said is no coincidence — it will also leave Manitobans with higher hydro rates and a larger hydro debt than they should be facing.

"It’s political optics. It’s done by design. The NDP has timed the investment in infrastructure to coincide with the next provincial election to create the false impression they can manage the economy effectively. And they can’t and they haven’t and they won’t," he said.