Putting the numbers out there
Interest on $257B is third-biggest item in provincial budget
Canadian Taxpayers Federation parks its Ontario debt clock outside Convention Centre,
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation parked its flashy Ontario debt clock outside the Ottawa Convention Centre on Tuesday to highlight the province’s staggering debt as nearly two dozen Liberal cabinet ministers and MPPs gathered inside at the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference.
“We’re trying to raise the profile of the debt,” said Candice Malcolm, the CTF’s Ontario director.
The large digital counter, which adds $372 every second, on Tuesday was displaying a provincial debt load of $257 billion, or $19,054 for every person living in the province. Interest on the debt is the third-highest line item in the provincial budget, after health care and education.
“That’s money that taxpayers are sending to Queen’s Park and they’re not getting anything in return for it,” Malcolm said.
The taxpayers’ group is calling on the province to scrap its Green Energy Act and reconsider how much it pays government employees.
The group also wants the province to help municipalities address infrastructure funding challenges by enacting a law that would require all revenue generated by taxing gasoline be tied to infrastructure spending.
“If they used the money that was raised through gas taxes, they’d have more than enough to pay for these projects,” Malcolm said.
The debt clock is currently on a 28-day tour of the province.