Mr. Speaker, unchecked growth in government debt is exposing Canada to the risk of currency and interest rate turbulence; simply put, explosions in deficits several years down the road.
Ontario, like the federal government, put off for another year stopping the rise in government debt as a ratio of GDP. Fortunately, some western and Atlantic provinces plan to reverse the rise this year. But Ontario's deficit and Quebec's overspending should raise the federal-provincial debt to 97 per cent of GDP within a year. Add municipal and regional governments and the
ratio hits 100 per cent. Canada then joins the ranks of high debt countries like Greece, Italy and Belgium.
People always knew the deficit numbers were awful. We have begun to reach the point when confidence in our currency is evaporating and then we may get slammed fast and hard.
We need aggressive fiscal policy at all levels to prevent what appears to be the inevitable.