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This article was published 10/9/2014 (2202 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brian Pallister fought the law and the law won, but that isn’t stopping him.

The Opposition Leader said today that a Progressive Conservative government would give back to Manitobans the right to vote on a major tax increase.

Tory Leader Brian Pallister

Pallister said while it’s unlikely a PC government would increase taxes, it still vital voters have a say in a tax hike.

He also pledged—again—to rescind the NDP’s increase of the provincial sales tax more than a year ago in his first term in office.

Pallister fought the tax hike in court in June, but lost. He argued the Selinger government increased the PST in a single bill that also did away with the need for a referendum, a requirement brought in by the PCs in 1995. The PCs argued two separate pieces of legislation were required.

But the judge didn’t agree, saying there was nothing in law to support Pallister’s stance, and dismissed the PCs' case.

Pallister said the window on appealing the case is still open, and he and his advisors are mulling it over.

Finance Minister Jennifer Howard has said the government was looking at the idea of going back to court to argue the PCs should pick up a portion of the bill the government forked out to argue the case. The province has said taxpayers were forced to spend more than $150,000 in legal costs in response to the PC party's challenge.