Posted: Apr 06, 2021 5:00 AM CT | Last Updated: April 6 Manitoba's Progressive Conservative government is scheduled to deliver its 2021 budget at the Legislature on Wednesday.(Gary Solilak/CBC) This column is an opinion by Shiu-Yik Au, an assistant professor of finance with the University of Manitoba's Asper School of Business and a member of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party. There is an ongoing debate between political leaders over how to best deal with the latter half of the pandemic. The Manitoba government appears to be pursuing a cautious combination of spending and saving. It is forecasting a deficit of $1.6 billion for the 2021-2022 fiscal year — down approximately $400 million from the previous year.