How much federal debt is too much for Canada? | About That

Canada's deficit is expected to grow to $1.4 trillion in the next five years. Andrew Chang explains that, while high national debt differs from personal debt, experts say it does come with a price.

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[ngvkhtnw]

Government debt is NOT a problem IF the debt is used for improving productivity and generating revenues. But Canada's mounting government debt is basically used for public consumption; very few, if any, new revenue generating assets such as highways, subways, sea ports, public housing, hospitals, high value added manufacturing, high tech hubs, etc., have benefited from it.

[andyozga]

Imagine all the services that could be had with the interest payment.

[Malbosia]

Canadas credit rating comes from the same people that gave sub prime mortgage backed securities AAA ratimgs, they same year it created a global financial crisis.

[djayjp]

$46 billion annually is still way too high in debt servicing costs.

[ivanandreevich]

He makes $80, 000 and he's going to have a mortgage? This is Canada bro. Are you a comedian?

[Carponchia-zk]

Previous Conservative PM Stephen Harper accredited to Canada's AAA rating and lowest debt to GDP. 8 years later, under Turdeau we have 1.173 Trillion in debt. 47B annually in interest rate is ludicrous. He's Not Worth The Cost!

[clanholmes]

Forgetting Provincial debt and Municipal Debt

[faithsanspeur]

How much of that is going to imaginary companies, slush funds, offshore accounts and general incompetence?

[christopherblack]

The problem is we are not getting anything from the Liberal reckless spending. Where is all this money going I'm not seeing any benefit, my retired mother sees no benefit,

[elajoanna]

Spend more and produce noting = higher inflation = higher interest rate = highere taxes to pay goverment debt = working middle class pays for it all. No, it is Not Okay.

[bernl]

You gotta love it your city will tell you they’re in debt. Your municipality will tell you they’re in debt. The province will tell you they’re in debt. The federal government will tell you they’re in debt. The average person is in debt. What about the banks are they in depth?

[TheNetwork]

Lol people who think govt debt is a good thing have no idea what inflation does to the poor.

[hughpark]

This is like watching an addict try to justify their addiction. It’s disgusting. Pierre is right.

[davidgeorge]

$1.2 Trillion in debt and Trudeau want to spend more? That's insane. We need an electrion. Trudeau needs to go.

[PetrichorYYC]

Absolutely love this show. Put everything in simple and easy to understand terms. Almost would like to have this be its own channel!

[mrjohnhush]

Canada's debt is way out of control, leading to inflation, higher taxes, cuts to social problems, etc., etc.

[ToudaHell]

When annoying interest turns into problematic interest, that's when you start to really pay down that debt. We need to reshuddle the federal budget and let someone who knows about money back in charge.

[JP-zhss]

Not mentioning the provincial debts when comparing with other far more centralized nations is borderline intellectually fraudulent. Fact is with its low productivity, almost nonexistent fiscal margin, oversized governments and total public debt (including provinces) this country is heading for trouble very quickly.

[user__]

Canada uses Newcomers to pay pensions of old Europeans through tax

[mitchelmcnee]

I think it's worth noting that when some "expert" states entirely on theory that "Governments have a forever view of things, they're not going to go out of business" they fail to mention Zimbabwe, the Weimar Republic, Argentina, Turkey or Greece, and the terrible effects their inflation and debt policies had on their people and economies. The "debt is good, actually" argument relies entirely on thought experiment, and not on history or observable results.