Ontario is over $200 Billion in Debt

Ontario has a population of 13 million people. Yet our provincial government is 200 billion dollars in debt. The federal government’s debt, by comparison, is 540 billion dollars for the whole of the nation.

That means that every Ontarian carries $18,000 of provincial debt, plus $15,000 of federal debt. The total gets real close to the annual salary of an Ontarian. It wasn’t always this bad. From 1997-2008 the federal government managed to reduce the national debt by $100 billion dollars, before spending its way out of the recession in 2009.

Can we do a repeat? Can we find a way to reduce debt while maintaining social programs, not shedding responsibilities to lower levels of government and making it their problem, and not breaking the banks of the average Canadian? It seems that the Ontario government is trying to make headway, but the results of their actions remains to be seen. As for our federal government, they insist on raising spending while maintaining tax levels.

Nevertheless, I feel like this debt isn’t talked about enough. It’s a lot of money, and it’s a load shared by all Ontarians.

Update: As it has been noted in the comments, I should credit my significant other for bringing this news piece to my attention. +1 Credit to BF!