Discussion · Government Orders
Greg McLean Conservative
“Canada is the second most indebted country in the world when you combine business, personal, and government debt. Canadian taxpayers end up paying for all of this debt and its interest. This cannot continue. The government will eventually run out of money and may have to sell assets or ask the International Monetary Fund for help.”
“Mr. Speaker, there are many scenarios that people put on the table. Canada is, believe it or not, one of the most indebted countries in the world. There are three types of debt: corporate, individual and government. In that hierarchy, Canada is the second-most indebted country in the world, behind only Luxembourg. We should think about that, because eventually, at the end of the day, there is one taxpayer: the Canadian taxpayer. They have a mortgage and consumer debt. There is a whole bunch of corporate debt that gets passed down to consumers, and there is a whole bunch of government debt that lands on the backs of consumers as well, who are paying the interest on each of those. That is heavier in Canada than almost anywhere else in the world. It is something that is going to land on the backs of taxpayers. I do not know what the government is going to use as a backstop at some point in time, but this is unsustainable. Effectively, the government is going to have to look at assets and what it is going to have to deal with, with the International Monetary Fund, at some point in time in the future.”
Mr. Speaker, there are many scenarios that people put on the table. Canada is, believe it or not, one of the most indebted countries in the world. There are three types of debt: corporate, individual and government. In that hierarchy, Canada is the second-most indebted country in the world, behind only Luxembourg. We should think about that, because eventually, at the end of the day, there is one taxpayer: the Canadian taxpayer. They have a mortgage and consumer debt. There is a whole bunch of corporate debt that gets passed down to consumers, and there is a whole bunch of government debt that lands on the backs of consumers as well, who are paying the interest on each of those. That is heavier in Canada than almost anywhere else in the world. It is something that is going to land on the backs of taxpayers. I do not know what the government is going to use as a backstop at some point in time, but this is unsustainable. Effectively, the government is going to have to look at assets and what it is going to have to deal with, with the International Monetary Fund, at some point in time in the future.