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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 206

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 5, 2023 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 206 - Jun/5/23
Mr. Mel Arnold (North Okanagan—Shuswap, CPC)
  • Jun/5/23 9:55:45 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there were promises in the 2015 election campaign from the Liberals of a small deficit for one year and then a return to balanced budgets, but what has been delivered is something totally different. We have seen eight years of inflationary spending, and now the government is signalling that it will never return to a balanced budget and will continue its out-of-control spending as long as it can. Hopefully, we can end that soon. If that were not bad enough, to go along with these massive deficits, we are seeing increasing interest rates in an attempt to rein in the skyrocketing inflation the deficits have caused. Compile all of this, and it spells bad news for Canadians. Canada's debt is projected to reach $1.22 trillion in fiscal year 2023-24. That is nearly $81,000 of debt per household. One of the results of this inflationary spending is to cause inflation to go up to the highest rates we have seen in 40 years. The previous high was under a former Liberal government with an out-of-control spending problem. The high inflation rate is resulting in the Bank of Canada raising interest rates to try to rein in inflation, rates that the Liberal government was warned about, but it failed to take the warning. Therefore, now, as a result, we have record high national debt combined with jacked-up interest rates that will see Canada's debt service costs projected to reach $43.9 billion for fiscal year 2023-24. Can members imagine the good $43.9 billion could do if it were not required to pay just for the debt? That is not to pay off the debt. That is just to pay the annual debt service cost. None of that estimated $43.9 billion would be going to reduce the deficit or the cost in future years. It is only to pay that annual debt service fee. That is $43.9 billion that could have gone to health care, to the nurses, doctors and hospitals where health care workers have been stretched to and beyond their limit. That is $43.9 billion that could have been going to infrastructure projects to improve water and wastewater projects in our communities, indigenous communities and municipalities. That is $43.9 billion that could have gone to transportation projects to help people get to work on time, or $43.9 billion to get homes built. However this $43.9 billion is only going to pay the debt service costs. I used to ask people at home if they could envision what $20 billion looked like because I myself had trouble envisioning what that looks like. I would get blank stares or heads shaking back, and so I would ask them if they can imagine what five $100 bills would look like in their hand. They would say, “Yes, I can picture five $100 bills.” I said that is what $20 billion is to every living Canadian, every infant, every youth, every adult, every senior and every veteran. It is five $100 bills in debt. That was what the $20-billion deficits were causing. Now we are seeing $40-billion deficits.
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