There’s only a few days to go before the April 19 election, yet 19% of Manitobans remain undecided, according to a recent Mainstreet poll.

No wonder — more than 140 promises have been made by the NDP, Tories and Liberals in the past few months — many of them repeated several times. It can be hard to keep track.

For those having trouble making up their minds, we’ve crunched the parties’ platforms into specific categories, so you can see where they stand on issues close to your heart.

Balanced budgets

NDP:Aim to balance the books in 2019-20, delayed from an original target of 2014-15. Stress the province must continue to invest in infrastructure and job creation to weather the economic downturn.

PC:Work toward a balanced budget but with no set target date, due to skepticism of NDP finance numbers.

Liberal:Rely on operating deficits for two years longer than the NDP, with a deficit as high as $800 million in the first year. Stress immediate cuts threaten to hurt Manitoba families.

Big-ticket promise

NDP:$4.5 billion in infrastructure spending.

Liberal:Flood-mitigation biggest-ticket item at $450 million — but only after the budget is balanced.

PC:Cut PST from 8% to 7% at cost of about $300 million in lost revenue per year.

CFS

PC:Introduce protecting children act to make it easier for government departments and other agencies to share information about at-risk children. Say a better economy will be better for kids in care.

Liberal:Cut the number of kids in provincial care by half, ideally within the party’s first term in office. Use existing budget by shifting resources from apprehension to prevention efforts.

NDP:Customary care plan focused on indigenous communities determining and carrying out care of their children, according to traditional customs.

Child-care

PC:Spend $3.5 million to make it easier to open and operate home daycares and increase their funding to create 550 new spaces in a year, while partnering to increase spaces in schools and enhancing early educator scholarships.

Liberal:Eliminate the child-care wait through new infrastructure and educator training, with an estimated operating cost of $30 million per year, and fund construction by postponing major infrastructure projects.

NDP:Add 12,000 more public child-care spaces — equal to the number of names on the province’s central waiting list. Add sliding-scale payments based on parental income and a provincial wage scale for workers. The exact cost has not been revealed, though it’s expected to cost tens of millions of dollars. That’s in addition to $25 million to fund child-care spots in schools and another $25 million to support community creation of other spots.

Downtown

NDP:Pay half of up to $26.6 million in tax increment financing for two acres of public space around the proposed $400-million True North Square. Redevelop government-owned downtown parking lots.

PC:New business advisory council.

Liberal:Invest up to $20 million to create a year-round fresh food market downtown. Could be operated as a Crown corporation, if no other options are available.

Driver’s licences

Liberal:Change policy so Manitobans are automatically asked if they’d like to be organ donors each time they renew their driver’s licences.

NDP:Add all-in-one personal identification card to combine driver’s licences and health numbers at transition cost of $13 million.

PC:n/a

Education

PC:Invest $7 million to boost literacy to ensure Manitoba children read at or above national levels by Grade 3.

Liberal:Full-day kindergarten ($50 million), new school in Brandon ($25 million).

NDP:$32.5 million (2.55%) boost to public school funding to bring total to $1.3 billion. Funds cover supports for indigenous and inner-city students.

Environment

NDP:Spend an added $500,000 for research to help protect Lake Winnipeg.

Liberal:Offer $2 million worth of rebates on low-emission vehicles and pass legislation to reduce idling, add Lake Winnipeg cabinet minister, ban microbeads.

PC:Watershed-based planning for drainage.

Flooding

Liberal:Provide a permanent outlet for Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin to drain into Lake Winnipeg at cost of up to $450 million — but only after the budget is balanced.

PC:Make a $495-million Lake Manitoba flood outlet a top infrastructure priority and cover the cost beyond a $248-million federal commitment.

NDP:Build roughly $1.2 billion worth of flood protection, including permanent outlets for Lake Manitoba by 2020.

Health

PC:Slash ambulance fees to patients by 50% at cost of $11 million per year. $700,000 for task force examining wait times.

Liberal:Create dedicated stroke unit at cost of $7.5 million per year but expect it to save $70 million annually.

NDP:$10 million in new health-care hires, $1.8 million for MRIs, $1.4 million for Thompson chemotherapy unit, $12 million for more QuickCare clinics.

Indigenous

Liberal:Invest $15 million per year to address housing crisis on northern Manitoba First Nations. Ensure 10% indigenous MLA representation.

PC:Supporting Urban Aboriginal Economic Development Zones via partnerships.

NDP:One-time grants for Swampy Tree Tribal Council, Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, forestry advisory committee.

Mental health

NDP:Invest $950,000 to help schools hire youth mental health workers. Spend $1 million to improve access to mental health services.

PC:Develop a comprehensive mental health strategy.

Liberal:Cover mental health under medicare at added cost of $5 million per year. Spend $400,000 to double the money currently spent on Winnipeg Drug Treatment Court.

Municipalities

NDP:Pick up a larger portion than the typical 1/3 tab to partner on key Winnipeg infrastructure projects, as part of adding $4.5 billion in infrastructure spending.

PC:Establish a “basket funding” mechanism to give municipalities better access to infrastructure dollars. Fund $1 billion per year of “strategic infrastructure,” about $152 million above the current annual spending level, province-wide.

Liberal:Devote revenues from the one-point PST hike, about $300 million per year, to municipalities, extending even after the hike’s 10-year expiry date. Rebate PST back to municipalities at cost of $5 million per year for five years.

Open government

NDP:Explore mandating the release of income-tax returns and offshore account information for party leaders.

PC:Cut cabinet size, reduce government travel, red-tape reduction task force, “shop smarter,” cut partisan ads, create an independent Hydro agency — adding up to estimated savings of $67.9 million.

Liberal:Boost the auditor general’s budget by $1 million to ensure checks and balances on government. Remove the car allowance for cabinet ministers and opposition leader to save $40,000 per year and slash the mailing budget by $700,000. Smaller cabinet.

Parks

PC:Put a moratorium on lease and service fees at provincial parks.

NDP:Invest $4 million in tourism industry and another $20 million to enhance parks with WiFi, camping upgrades.

Liberal:Accept campsite registrations six months in advance of the first day of booking to prevent booking-day overloads. Stagger registration days.

Personal care home beds

NDP:Create more than 1,000 new personal care home beds over the next four years.

PC:Add 1,200 new personal care home beds over the next eight years at a cost of $160 million and spend $2.25 million per year to operate them.

Liberal:Minor, cost-neutral promises.

Post-secondary

PC:Raise $20.25 million for scholarships and bursaries for post-secondary students but ensure private donors pay two-thirds of the tab, while government fund increases just $2.25 million.

Liberal:Convert student loans to grants at cost of $10 million per year.

NDP:Add $27.9 million (4%) more to funding for colleges and universities, including supports for “marginalized students,” and a midwifery program.

For rural voters

PC:Work to end spotlight hunting, possibly with increased resources or staff.

Liberal:Spend $8.2 million to remove the $5,000-cap on school taxes on farmland.

NDP:Contribute $75,000 to rural economic development strategy project.

Socioeconomic equality

PC:Spend $17 million to adjust income tax brackets and the basic personal income-tax exemption to account for inflation.

Liberal:Launch “mincome” pilot program to track effects of minimum income on all government spending, including health, justice and employment at a cost of $10 million over four years.

NDP:Establish new $10-million loan fund to support social enterprise, create employment and training opportunities for those who face barriers to work. Annual 50-cent minimum wage increases.

Taxes

Liberal:Phase out the payroll tax at cost of $40 million per year but not until after the budget is balanced. Spend $10 million per year to remove the land transfer tax for first-time home buyers. Lower property taxes for condo owners (meaning higher property taxes for home owners). PST off kids’ sporting equipment.

NDP:Vow not to raise the PST again but have not ruled out other tax hikes.

PC:Cut PST from 8% to 7% at cost of about $300 million in lost revenue per year.

The North

PC:Spend $300,000 to boost tourism and other industries in northern Manitoba.

NDP:Spend $10.62 million to build greenhouses, boost food programs and otherwise enhance northern food security.

Liberal:Provide $25 million food subsidy for northern Manitoba each year.

That’s ... specific

Liberal:Remove PST from salon services over $50 at cost of $7 million per year.

NDP:$1-2 million each for LGBTQ health and ally programs, United Way family resource and women’s centres, Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata and Resource Assistance for Youth (RaY), fighting gender-based violence.

PC:“Shop smarter” by restricting untendered government contracts for use only in exceptional circumstances and ending “forced unionization,” which the Tories expect will save a combined $47 million per year.

Just for Winnipeg

NDP:Spend about $65 million to fast-track an inner ring road in Winnipeg, another $65 million for city potholes.

Liberal:Postpone a plan to build a bypass around St. Norbert and redirect the $400-million cost into fixing Winnipeg roads.

PC:Spend $175,000 to create an international curling centre of excellence in Winnipeg.