Last month, theCanadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) afforded me the great pleasure of towing an enormous scoreboard in a pickup truck fromCalgary to Ottawa. Allow me to provide some context. From time to time the CTF, for whom I am interning this summer, launches a national “debt clock tour”, journeying across the country to raise awareness about th

e national debt our government is gifting to the next generation. When Finance Minister Bill Morneau made clear the federal government’s intention to plunge Canada back into debt last March, the CTF knew it had no choice but to take the venerable clock out of retirement and on another cross-country trek, informing Canadians of the gravity of the federal government’s debt problem.

The tour began at Mile Zero of the Trans-Canada Highway in Victoria, B.C on June 6, before making its way across the country to the shores of Prince Edward Island, and then doubling back for the grand finale in front of Parliament Hill on July 18. My responsibility was to ensure that the clock arrived safely and punctually at all of our stops in the Prairie provinces and Northern Ontario. Along with seeing a beautiful slice of Canada up-close for the first time, the most rewarding part of the journey for me was conversing with every supporter and curious bystander we met along the way. The most salient feature of these conversations was the recurring refrain of, “I didn’t know it was that high!” Even people who introduced themselves to me as long-time supporters of the CTF seemed astonished to learn that their share of the federal debt was over $17,000 and climbing rapidly every second. (One gentleman inquired, amusingly, if there were any way for an individual to pay off his or her share of the debt and be done with it.)

And while public debt certainly isn’t the sexiest political issue, just about everyone with whom I spoke understood its importance. Many of the people I conversed with were small business owners – people whose livelihoods depend on balancing their own books. It was evident that the injustice of a government refusing to live within its means, while relying on people who have no choice but to live within their means to bail them out if necessary, struck a chord with them. After all, it’s the taxpayers who are on the hook when a government spends money it doesn’t have and has to find a way to manoeuvre itself back into the black. The cost of recuperating that debt will fall on the shoulders of ordinary Canadians, either in the form of reduced public services or higher taxes. This is so basic that virtually everyone knows it intuitively, with the only notable exception being our governments.

The most moving interaction I had was with a middle-aged man who owned a small business in the small town where he had lived and worked all his life. He disclosed to me that if the government of his province increased a payroll tax, as it was hinting it would do, he would have no choice but to close down his business and move down the road to the next province over. His enterprise would, quite simply, cease to be profitable. Government policy affects working people’s day-to-day lives. Having spoken with people from all walks of life across the country about what effects government policy, especially government overspending and the consequences that flow from it, I am anxious to raise awareness about these issues among people of my generation when I return to Carleton University in the fall to head up our Generation Screwed campus club. Young people need to hear this message more than anyone else. My generation needs to realize that previous generations spent huge amounts of money that they did not have and left us with the bill. We need to face up to this problem, and the sooner we get on with it the better.

 

For more information:

 

 

Henry Gray – Campus Coordinator, Carleton University

email: hgray@generationscrewed.ca