The Liberal government is assuring Canadians they’ve got things under control following a Sun feature highlighting a buried federal government report that warns of a looming debt crisis in the coming years.

Although the government doesn’t deny the scenario could occur in the future.

The Sun revealed the shocking details of a finance department report released quietly two days before Christmas that indicated Canada may not return to a balanced budget until 2055 and that the debt is on track to hit $1 trillion within 15 years.

Lower than expected growth combined with higher program spending “would be sufficient to put at risk the fiscal sustainability of the federal government”, the report warned.

“As with any projections that extend over several decades, those presented in this document are subject to a fair degree of uncertainty,” wrote Annie Donolo, press secretary to finance minister Bill Morneau, in an email to the Sun on Thursday.

“Rather than being viewed as a forecast of the future, these projections should be taken as scenarios that could occur based on current trends and policies and a reasonable set of demographic, economic and fiscal assumptions,” Donolo adds.

Conservatives have been sounding the alarms after seeing the report. “The Prime Minister is quickly learning that the budget will not balance itself, and his lesson is coming at a massive cost to Canadian families,” Gérard Deltell, Conservative finance critic, said in a statement.

“How old will you be in 2055?” Conservative leadership candidate Lisa Raitt posted to social media. “Canada can’t afford decades of debt and interest payments. That’s why we need to win in 2019.”

The government sees it otherwise and clearly believes they are well positioned to make the right choices to avoid this doom and gloom scenario.

“This report shows the impact this long period of slow growth has had on the country’s bottom line, and speaks to the importance of making smart, necessary investments to strengthen the middle class and grow our economy long-term,” Donolo writes.

“Whether in transit, in clean technologies, or in health care, we will continue to make the kinds of investments that make a positive difference in the lives of families, and we will do so prudently.”

As part of the 2015 election campaign, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau promised to balance the budget by 2019. Yet during the November 2016 fiscal update, Bill Morneau announced this would not happen until after 2021. This report now casts further concern on just when the government will return to surplus.

“One way or another, Canadians are going to foot the bill for Liberal mismanagement and I have no trust that there is a credible path back to a balanced Liberal budget,” Deltell’s statement adds.

“I don’t think it’s going to end well,” Ian Lee, Carleton University business professor, told the Sun after reviewing the numbers.

afurey@postmedia.com