You sure can buy a lot with $14 billion.
The province could build multiple new hospitals, or cut the provincial sales tax by two points.
Instead, they’re spending it on interest payments for the approximately $424 billion of debt the province currently holds.
This is among the key points Canadian Taxpayers Federation Ontario director Jay Goldberg strived to share with Sudburians on the Science North parking lot on Friday.
Goldberg arrived with the federation’s Debt Clock, which they’ve been touring around the 17 cities in the province and displays what the province’s estimated debt load is.
Today, they estimated it at $424.4 billion, which equates to a per-resident share of $25,948.88.
“You add the federal debt, it's over $50,000 or so per person,” Goldberg told Sudbury.com.
“We haven't had a balanced budget in 20 years,” he added. “Premier Doug Ford(‘s government) alone has added $86 billion to our debt in the past six-plus years.”
The stereotype that “conservative” governments are more fiscally responsible than left-leaning governments “is not holding here in the province of Ontario,” he said, noting that Ford’s government is adding debt “at a faster clip” than former Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government did during her time in office.
“We're passing this all along to our kids and grandkids,” he said. “We're spending $14 billion this year on debt interest. That's over a billion dollars a month that's going to bond holders on Bay Street.”
According to the province’s 2024 budget document, Ontario’s net debt was $352.38 billion in 2019-20, was forecast to hit $414.81 billion in 2023-24 and is planned to reach $439.06 billion in 2024-25.
Interest payments were forecast to reach $13.9 billion in 2023-24, $14.7 billion in 2024-25, and are forecast to hit $15.2 billion by 2026-27.
Sudbury.com reached out to the province for their response to Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Debt Clock findings, and received a written response from Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy’s press secretary, Colin Blachar.
The response does not directly address the province’s ballooning debt, or the Canadian Taxpayer Federation’s key points of criticism (there hasn’t been a balanced budget in Ontario in 20 years, Ford’s government has added debt at a faster clip than Wynne’s government, and interest payments could be better spent on Ontarians).
Blachar’s response offered that the province is “continuing a clear path back to balance and with revenues up $52 billion” since the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario took office.
It also notes that the current government’s term has seen the province’s credit rating upgraded for the first time since 2006.
“We have taken action to keep costs down for hardworking Ontario families including cutting the gas tax, eliminating licence plate fees, and removing double fares and extending fare integration saving riders an average of $1,600 per rider per year,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation estimates a federal debt of $1.24 trillion and on the rise, jumping by a rate of $109 million per day and costing $31,258 per Canadian.
The City of Greater Sudbury’s debt load is currently forecast to peak at $587.3 million by 2028, having grown drastically from the $18.98 million recorded in 2014.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
