MPP Monte McNaughton brought forward his Bill 168, the “Capping Ontario’s Debt Act”, for second reading debate on Thursday.
Officials from McNaughton’s office said the bill was defeated “after the Liberals and NDP parties united to vote against it.”
The bill sought to limit the amount of debt Ontario could take on by imposing a debt limit tied to Ontario’s GDP.
“Even with historic low rates, the interest payments on Ontario’s debt alone account for over $11.5 billion every year – money that could, and should, be going to pay for new investments and key programs,” McNaughton stated in a press release.
“Unfortunately the Liberals and NDP joined forces to kill my bill and prevent this additional layer of taxpayer protection.”
McNaughton said the recent budget was the ninth straight budget where the McGuinty-Wynne Liberal governments have failed to balance the books.
He said along the way, they’ve doubled the accumulated debt and driven the debt to GDP ratio from 27% to over 40% today – a 48% increase in less than 10 years.
“The level of debt in Ontario impacts every man, woman and child today and into our future,” stated McNaughton.
“Thousands of people have contacted my office or visited www.Monte.ca in support of my plan to cap Ontario’s debt. Thirty years ago, the provincial debt was a manageable $31.5 billion. Nine years ago it had grown to $153 billion. Today, it has doubled to our current $308 billion. In nine years, Ontario’s debt has grown by more than 100% – the highest rate of debt growth for any provincial government.”
After the bill was defeated, McNaughton vowed to continue to keep the pressure on the Liberals to bring forward a meaningful plan to balance the books, get back in the black, and begin paying down the provincial debt.
“A debt cap won’t solve Ontario’s $308-billion debt, but it is one small step towards addressing this problem. I hope my bill will further the discussion about the debt level in Ontario, and across Canada,” McNaughton stated.
“Of course, the Liberals will never voluntarily limit their ability to spend taxpayers’ dollars. This is an important conversation that we need to have and I’m pleased to have brought forward this idea.”
Here is video of the debate from Thursday:
