Canada Sinking Under Harper's Debt
Harper has added 170 billion [1] of debt via new borrowing since 2008, a goodly chunk of that having been added before the 2008 election.
Stretch your mind back to the fall of last year, the halcyon days of Election 2008. You may recall Stephen Harper on more than one occasion stating categorically that he would not engage in deficit financing nor take on new debt? [2]
He lied. By Election 2008 Harper's "conservative" government was already spending its way deeper into debt at a rate not seen in well over a decade.
Perhaps our politicians fib but numbers do not lie and the government helpfully publishes them months after the fact at http://www.fin.gc.ca/pub/fm-rf-index-eng.asp. The chart and table are produced from these sources.
What say you, 30 million Canadians? Do you enjoy being lied to by Stephen Harper and his gang?
Bleak to Bleaker
During Harper's tenure the federal government financial picture has gone positive to bleak. From 2000 to 2005 the books showed, on average, an 8.5 billion dollar financial source (incoming revenue higher than expenses). Today? Harper in fiscal year 2008 produced a massive 89.5 billion dollar financial requirement (a deficit by any other name will smell as sour). deficit
And in 2009? This year the federal government has already racked up 79.5 billion in new debt financing as of July and there are still nine more months in this fiscal year to go.
Personally I wouldn't draw a comparison between the two individuals but some will assert that Harper is leading us back to the Mulroney days. We all know what happened to the conservative party of power following Brian's reign -- it was virtually destroyed and was left holding only two seats.
| [1] | To be fair, subtract $15 billion from the total - this represents a change in debt management strategy introduced in Budget 08 which saw the government borrowing on behalf of three Crown corporations, the Business Development Bank of Canada, Farm Credit Canada and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. |
| [2] | Election 2008 video clip on October 7 2008 Harper said "We are not going to run deficits", and at the Canadian Club in Toronto he was even more categorical: "We will not be running a deficit, we will keep our spending within our means, it is that simple." |