It’s budget week with federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty poised on Tuesday afternoon to deliver another financial statement on the country’s fortunes (and its debts). It is time for Canadians to reflect, ever so briefly, on our Nation’s economy and our government’s interventionist actions in an attempt to improve our lot.
For us at By George, it is time to chime in with our sad refrain about accountable government, responsible spending and a reduced bureaucratic corps. This libertarian theme is one that readers of By George Journal will recognize.
Our big government and its big debt
Is it not time to demand accountability?
The Costs of our Big Governments
With respect to Mr. Flaherty’s act as the master federal magician, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s latest plea to balance the budget and take steps to be more responsible with government spending could not be made any clearer. Here are the facts as assembled by the CTF:
Canada’s federal debt is growing at a rate of $863 per second. That’s $52,000 per minute and $3.1 million per hour. This level of borrowing is costing Canadians not just the principal, but interest each year. In fact, the federal government spends $31 billion per year just paying the annual interest on the debt.
Between 1997 and 2008 the federal government was running surplus budgets and paying down our debt. Every cent and more of that $105 billion paid-off during the decade has now been re-borrowed and spent. Canada’s federal debt has risen from $457 billion in 2008 to over $600 billion.
CTF urges the Finance Minister to curb government spending and balance the federal budget as promised this fiscal year, 2014-15. To read more on the CTF’s plea to the federal government, click here: Balance the Budget
