All This Debt Costs You and Me A Lot of Money

I again raised the matter of Canada’s spiraling debt in the House yesterday. This is important to our futures.

Canada has a lot of debt. We know about the $1.4 Trillion federal debt, which the OECD says is a 107% Debt to GDP ratio (the government claims it is just 40% but that’s because they include funds held in the CPP and QPP, which are not government assets – they are funds held in trust for Canadians’ retirement).

On top of the federal debt there is provincial debt, debt held by government agencies, debt across the board. There is also personal debt – what you and I owe. That amounts to another 102% of GDP.

The total debt in Canada is a completely unsustainable 209% Debt to GDP. The amount owed by Canadians – government and personal – amounts to about 14% of the average household income, and then there is the cost of servicing all that debt.

This can only lead to higher taxes.

The Prime Minister famously said that the government would take on debt so that Canadians didn’t have to.

Who does he think will be responsible for paying the interest and principal on all this debt, if not Canadians?

For Further Reference

See the transcript of Greg’s remarks and the answer from the Liberals in Hansard here.