YORKTON - The Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Saskatchewan Debt Clock tour made a stop in Yorkton Friday.
The stop – the last of those scheduled – is an effort “sounding the alarm over the provincial government’s rising debt and interest charges by driving the Debt Clock around Saskatchewan,” noted a CTF release.
Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie Director, told Yorkton This Week during the Yorkton visit that they believe that Saskatchewan taxpayers’ money is being wasted on debt interest payments because the government is spending money faster than it comes in.
Interest charges on the debt will cost about $878.4 million this year, or about $700 for everyone in the province, said Haubrich, adding Saskatchewan’s debt will be about $23.5 billion by the end of the year, or $18,713 per Saskatchewan.
Haubrich also noted much of the current debt lies with decisions made by the current Saskatchewan Party through its extended tenure.
Premier Scott Moe has more than doubled the provincial debt while in office, he stated. When Moe became premier the debt was about $11 billion. Since then, he has increased it by about 113 per cent.
Debt interest charges are costing taxpayers more than $2.4 million every single day, Haubrich said.
