OTTAWA’S FISCAL UPDATE VEERS FROM REALITY AGAIN

PUTTING ASIDE MONEY FOR a rainy day is a concept we’re all familiar with, even if not all of us follow that advice. For governments, that philosophy should extend to cutting spending and socking away cash when the economy is good, then switching over to draw on those reserves when times get tough, as they inevitably do. That’s rarely the case, however.

Instead, what we have is governments spending like the proverbial sailors gifted with shore leave pretty much at all times, often still running deficits in the good times, then really overheating the credit card when some pump-priming is called for.

It’s that philosophy that’s guiding the Trudeau Liberals, as Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s economic update sees a government already mired in debt using a windfall of unexpected revenue as an excuse to ramp up wasteful spending.

We’re familiar with the tales of profligacy, incompetence and outright corruption from both levels of senior government. The provincial gang is intent on stealing from Ontarians and giving to their supporters and contributors, particularly in the public sector unions. The group in Ottawa has never met an expense it doesn’t like, particularly when it’s of benefit to friends and supporters.

After a good start, the Liberals at Queen’s Park sank to vote-buying and corruption on a grand scale. Today, they find themselves mired in scandal after scandal, with cases for tampering with candidates in a byelection and the gas plant fiasco making their way through the courts just now. Deficit spending, much of it on useless pet projects and staffing costs, is the norm. So too is disrespect for accountability and the intelligence of Ontarians, itself in question at times.

Federally, Trudeau has avoided scandals thus far – it’s early – but gave only lip service to fiscal responsibility, quickly reneging on even his tepid promises at good governance. In that way, he’s much like his predecessor, Stephen Harper, who was even more exuberant in preaching deficit control while doing just the opposite.

Reports show the country was headed for a deficit, possibly structural, even before the Great Recession of 2008, all thanks to a government that drove spending and the size of government to historic levels while posting the largest deficit in Canadian history.

Hit with a downturn in the manufacturing heartland of Ontario – fuelled most recently by Kathleen Wynne’s policies – and a collapse in commodity prices, specifically oil, the economy’s ups and downs have not figured into the spending habits in Ottawa or Toronto.

Both governments have dismissed concerns about deficits, arguing more spending and more debt will actually result in lower debt due to the economic growth generated by infrastructure investment. It’s the same trickle-down rationale being touted in Washington again just now.

In each case, budget pipedreams overestimate the upside while downplaying the negatives, particularly deficits that leave little room to manoeuvre in the face of future downturns or unexpected expenditures for the likes of disasters that seem to be increasingly prevalent.

Both Ottawa and, particularly, Queen’s Park are spending more money than they have. Spending more than the economy can keep up with. Spending more than even the inflation argument can attempt to justify. Spending more than we can afford to pay, if not today, then tomorrow.