OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation brought its Debt Clock to Ottawa today to show the federal government’s $1.3-trillion debt going up in real time ahead of the Nov. 5 budget.

“Taxpayers have a simple message for the federal government ahead of the budget: Stop overspending, stop the borrowing spree and stop the Debt Clock,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “We brought the Debt Clock to Ottawa to warn every member of Parliament about the $1.3-trillion debt problem.”

Paying interest on the federal debt is the government’s “fastest-growing expense”

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Debt Clock is a huge digital counter mounted on the side of a large truck that shows the national debt going up in real time. Here’s what it shows:

• Canada’s federal debt is more than $1.3 trillion.
• The debt is increasing by $179 million every day or $2,000 every second.
• Each person’s individual share of the federal government’s debt is $32,700.

The government is borrowing $65 billion this year, according to its Spring Economic Update. It has no plan to balance the budget and stop borrowing money.

Paying interest on the federal debt is the government’s “fastest-growing expense,” according to a recent Parliamentary Budget Officer report.

Debt interest charges will cost taxpayers $58.7 billion this year, which is more than the federal government will send to the provinces in health transfers ($57.4 billion) or collect through its GST ($53.4 billion).

“The government has been wasting taxpayers’ money for years, but the biggest waste of money is the $1 billion a week going to pay interest on the debt,” Terrazzano said. “Prime Minister Mark Carney needs to put down the credit card, pick up scissors and stop going over budget because taxpayers can’t afford these debt interest charges.”

The CTF first launched its Debt Clock in the 1990s to push back against runaway borrowing and government debt.