Kevin Lacey and Franco Terrazzano from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation with the National Debt Clock in Red Deer's Parkland Mall parking lot on Wednesday. (rdnewsNOW/Alessia Proietti)

By Alessia Proietti

Canadian Taxpayers Federation

“Stop the Clock”: National Debt Clock showing $1.1 trillion, visits Red Deer

Mar 23, 2022 | 2:11 PM

You may not be able to turn back the clock of time, but the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is sounding the alarm to turn back the National Debt Clock.

Franco Terrazzano, Federal Director of the CTF, and Kevin Lacey, Alberta Director, stopped in Red Deer Wednesday at Parkland Mall’s parking lot for their national tour, showcasing the digital clock mounted on the side of a truck, which adjusts the national debt increasing in real time.

“The federal government has made the lives of the people living in Red Deer much harder. Not just during the pandemic but even before the pandemic. You talk about the no-more pipelines laws, the discriminatory tanker ban, the carbon tax, the upcoming second carbon tax. We really do feel like we have an important role to play to tell the federal government to ease off on the people of Red Deer because the feds have made the tough times harder,” said Terrazzano.

The CTF states this year’s debt clock is new as the previous clock, first established in the 90’s, did not have enough digits for the current $1.1 trillion debt.

Increasing by $391.5 million daily or $4,531 every second, the clock also shows the share of debt for each Canadian, at roughly $30,900.

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Terrazzano says the large spending by the current federal government began long before the pandemic. Referring to the Fraser Institute, the Trudeau government’s 2018 per-person spending reached $9,061, the highest in Canadian history, and increased the following year. Accounting for inflation and population growth, the per-person spending was higher than the peak reached during the Second World War, according to Terrazzano.

Throughout the pandemic, Terrazzano says the government hasn’t prioritized spending. He pointed to Parliament members’ third pay raise during this time, set to take effect on April 1, and that over 300,000 federal government employees received a pay raise during the pandemic, with no pay cuts.

“That’s a real slap in the face. So many taxpayers lost their job, took a pay cut, maybe even lost their business during the pandemic all while their representative in Ottawa has given themselves bigger pay. That’s wrong,” he said.

Other causes of the debt problem, according to Terrazzano, is the unfair $20 billion equalization program and the expensive and ineffective buy-back program for banned firearms from law-abiding citizens, he says.

In a news release, the CTF states that “the federal government isn’t projected to balance its budget until 2070, according to data published by the Parliamentary Budget Officer.”

Terrazzano says taxpayers should worry about paying interest on the debt itself.

“This year alone, taxpayers are losing out on $25 billion just to pay interest on the debt,” he said.

For the provincial debt, Alberta sits at over $120 billion, but Lacey says he hopes Premier Jason Kenney’s new budget starts to lower the deficit. Hearing from Albertans so far on the tour, he says the recent joining of the federal NDP and Liberal parties has been a voiced concern.

Beginning their tour in Victoria, British-Columbia, on March 14, the CTF truck will also be travelling to Edmonton on March 23, before making its way across Canada to Ottawa for the releasing of the budget in early April.

Once in Ottawa, Terrazzano plans to hold a press conference, presenting his plan on how to balance the budget by 2023-2024. Already shared with the finance committee, he says bringing spending back to pre-pandemic levels is the first step.

“What we’re looking for out of this government is to stop the clock,” he said.