The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) brought its touring debt clock around the province, aiming to raise awareness about Manitoba’s growing provincial debt.
According to the CTF, the province’s debt has surpassed $35 billion and continues to increase.
"It's going up about $4,000 a minute, or $5.5 million a day," says Gage Haubrich, prairie director for the federation.
Haubrich says that when divided among Manitoba’s population, the debt amounts to more than $23,000 per person.
"That's how much every single person in the province owes in government debt. The problem with that, is with debt comes interest payments," he says. "The government is spending about $2.3 billion this year on debt interest—that's almost 10 per cent of the budget and it's costing every single Manitoban about $1,500."
"When you see it flying up by almost $4,000 a minute on the side of the truck, it puts in a different perspective. A lot of people are saying, 'Whoa, I didn't know it was this bad. I didn't know it was this fast. Something needs to be done,'" Haubrich says.
He says the federation would like to see the province slow its spending, and individual taxpayers get in touch with local politicians.
"Send them an email, call their office, and say, 'the debt's going up too much,'" he says.
