Several people have pointed out to me that last week's column was "unfair".
True.
While no one can truly say what would have happened if circumstances had been different, it is likely any governing party would have run deficits during the "financial meltdown". After all, the world was facing the imminent threat of a 1930s-style depression.
Stimulus spending by the government provided an infusion of cash into the economy and kept small businesses and large corporations alike from financial disaster. Tax relief provided a small measure for the average worker and household.
It was a good thing to do.
It was the right thing to do.
But it did come at a cost. Once again, debt repayment is chomping at the federal budget. Programs are being cut. Money isn't being spent. Just ask veterans or scientists working for the National Research Council. Look at the national laboratories that are being closed or the funding cuts to national libraries.
This government is making a choice - a very conscious choice. It has decided that decreasing the overall budget is more important than maintaining many of things Canadians value.
It doesn't want to be the government that says: "Hey, we overspent to get ourselves through a difficult time so now we are all going to have to contribute a little more to pay off the bills."
Instead, it appears to be the government that wants to say: "Have a tax break. Don't worry about the debt. It will all take care of itself."
As a country, we have all overspent. We have maxed out the credit card. At a personal level, it is a position we have all been in. We needed a short term infusion of money. But we also had a plan for paying off the bill. Or, at least, we have a plan if we are being fiscally responsible.
So here we are with a balanced budget and the prospect of future surpluses. The government has wrestled the deficit under control. Economic growth has returned the revenue streams to a level where they are paying for the expenses.
By some estimates, fiscal 2015/2016 could see as much as $6 billion in excess which would be a healthy surplus which could have gone to paying down the debt.
That is, if the government had made different choices.
Accumulating debt during a recession is not a bad thing in and of itself. Yes, the country would be in much worse shape if the government hadn't made the choices it did. But when times finally turn around and things are good, the debt should have first call on the surplus not income sharing or other tax breaks.
During all of this, where are the voices of the business community pointing out how damaging debt is to our economic health? Is being over half a billion in debt acceptable now?
In the early 1990s, the national debt pervaded the collective consciousness. Hardly a newscast went by without someone commenting on the consequences of the debt load. Pundits and institutes on both sides of the political spectrum chastised governments for their spending habits.
I haven't heard the same level of rhetoric over the past few years. Is it simply because we now recognize increased debt as a necessity? Why is no one screaming that we need to pay it off?
There are a few voices. A recent National Post article took Ontario's premier to task:
"(Kathleen) Wynne has obviously sniffed the wind and concluded Ontarians are comfortable with a province that remains up to its ears in debt. Ontario's deficit remains larger than every other province, and the federal government, combined. It continues to offer no concrete plan for reducing it, other than vowing that, somehow, it will be done. Politicians love pledging to make 'hard choices' when times demand. But Ontario's Liberals continue to show they lack the discipline to control their spending urges no matter what the circumstances. Provided with fresh revenue, their only concern is how quickly they can spend it."
The latter sentiment might be applied to governments all across the land. When new money comes available - either through introducing carbon taxes in Ontario, the sale of land in British Columbia, or economic growth federally - the temptation is to spend it instead of paying down the debt.
Maybe our national debt is no longer something to worry about. As a portion of GDP or even the GNP, it is one of the lowest in the world. Debt servicing at $25.7 billion per year is almost reasonable given that is only about 10 per cent of the federal budget.
But I can't help feeling that down the road, our children and grandchildren will regret the way all governments have handled our finances. At some point, the piper must be paid if we are going to be fiscally responsible.
