Cornwall Ontario – This latest stat has MPP Jim McDonell fuming. According to fiscal projections released by the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation, Ontario’s total provincial debt surpassed the $300 billion mark on Monday. By the Financial Accountability Officer’s estimates the debt will grow to $350 billion by 2020.

“The Liberal Government has mortgaged our Province’s future with nothing to show for it,” MPP Jim McDonell stated. “The Province owes $2.40 for each $1 it takes as taxes and payments every year, and 40% of this debt load has to be repaid or refinanced in 2020. A household facing such fiscal pressure would take immediate steps to secure their financial standing – the Liberal government continues, instead, to waste taxpayers’ dollars and taking on debt.”

Ontario’s budget forecasts that interest payments on the government’s debt will amount to just under $1 billion per month this year.

“They are spending as much on interest as on social services to adults and children combined” MPP Jim McDonell commented. “This level of debt is toxic to the Province’s long-term prospects. Every dollar spent on interest is taken away from much-needed programs for hospitals, schools, municipalities, farmers and students just to name a few. We are already seeing the impact of higher interest costs with cuts in healthcare and to special education programs, such as supports for autistic children”.

As debt matures, re-financing costs will depend on the Province’s credit rating and fiscal outlook.

“The Liberals have allowed our credit rating to slip and most credit rating agencies do not believe the Government can balance its books” MPP Jim McDonell concluded. “Unless we take serious and immediate steps to stop the growth of the provincial debt and place ourselves on a solid fiscal footing, our interest costs will grow exponentially, eroding the already stretched public services that Ontarians rely on and deserve to receive.”