TORONTO

At first, I wondered if I was witnessing a Saturday Night Live skit Tuesday morning.

But no, folks, when it comes to the provincial Liberals and their gross denial of Ontario's fiscal realities, you just can't make this stuff up.

Finance Minister Charles Sousa -- the very same Sousa who finally admitted last week the Liberals are only really interested in spending themselves silly into the next election and not managing their deficit or debt -- told a group of about 100 credit counsellors and people with debt problems that it is "critical" they do the things they can "afford" and "manage."

Crowing that his "old man harped on" understanding the value of money when he was growing up, Sousa also said -- with a straight face -- that the province's $127-billion budget is "no different than a household trying to manage their budget" and "effectively afford" the things they buy and spend.

"No one wants to see people in a position where they can't afford their debt," he told the group meeting to mark the seventh annual Credit Education Week. "I as treasurer of this province am always concerned about our ability to afford debt."

My eyes nearly rolled back in my head when he went on to say that he regularly measures the province's net debt-to-GDP ratio as an indication of their ability to afford debt.

"More importantly (I want) to ensure we take the proper measures not to pass on that burden to our children and future generations after," he said, again without breaking a sweat.

"We need to be disciplined ... we need to be determined," he advised the crowd, adding that the province "needs to do the same."

I can't for the life of me understand why Sousa -- whose government has proven not to have a modicum of discipline when it comes to frittering away tax dollars -- would have even put himself in the position of lecturing an audience on money and debt management, especially considering what he told Ontarians in last week's Fall Economic Statement.

Maybe he and his handlers didn't think any media would attend to witness this train wreck.

Last week, he good as said the Liberals were prepared to abandon their very short-lived attempts at tightening their belts -- as well as the carefully articulated recommendations of economist Don Drummond in his $76,500 report of 18 months ago.

Drummond said that in order to have any hope of balancing the books by 2017-18, the Liberals had to target a spending level across the entire government that is 17% lower than present expenditures.

Instead, Sousa and his political master, Premier Kathleen Wynne, said they intend to protect investments, that is keep spending ($5 billion to be exact) on jobs and infrastructure ahead of keeping short-term targets -- meaning they don't have any hope in hell of eliminating the current $11.7-billion deficit by 2017-18.

I hate to break it to Sousa, but I don't consider a $273-billion debt or a $11.7-billion deficit -- with no plan whatsoever in place to bring those numbers down -- evidence of proper management of the Ontario household budget.

Gawd, if I had racked up anywhere close to a minute portion of Ontario's debt on my credit cards -- say $27,000 -- I wouldn't be burying my head in the sand and engaging in more frivolous spending on trips to exotic lands, or a new wardrobe or new electronic toys.

As for the net debt-to-GDP ratio Sousa claimed to be closely watching, Ontario's is at 37%, just about where Greece was when it began its downward slide.

I can only hope that as Sousa sat waiting to speak -- having turned up 20 minutes late -- he listened to the wise words of Brent Reynolds, vice-president of Credit and Analytics for Capital One Canada.

Reynolds said it was not just young people who are having trouble controlling their spending -- that it is "pretty universal."

"My message today is to cut back on frivolous spending so you can make every cent count," he said.

He also encouraged the crowd to "keep track of their spending" and if they use credit, to make sure there is a plan in place to "pay it off in good time."

Considering that Sousa and Wynne have made it obvious they have a long way to go towards financial literacy, I offer as another service to both of them: The Credit Canada Debt Solutions' free debt consultation line.

The two might want to try 416-228-DEBT. Operators are standing by.