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Fast forward three years. Just before Christmas, when Canadians were more focused on Santa Claus than fiscal flaws, the department released its 2017 update. Debt is now projected to balloon to over $1 trillion by 2035. Instead of earning interest, our children will be burdened by $56 billion in debt charges for that year alone, rising to over $67 billion by 2045.

Yet people do not seem especially concerned. After all, we are a rich country. Fiscal responsibility is so boring. Billions are hard to relate to. The kids don’t care we are mortgaging their future. So what if Keynes advocated government intervention during a recession, but not during a period of growth? The debt-to-GDP ratio will gradually decline. Just be sure to protect health care, repair the roads, raise entitlements and keep those pesky pipelines away from our hood (but don’t stop importing foreign oil). Otherwise, sock it to me Justin!

Well, there are consequences to higher debt. Interest obligations are a drag on economic growth. They preclude meaningful tax cuts, squeeze social spending and make it more difficult to respond to a geopolitical crisis or a cyclical economic downturn, which happens on average every eight years in North America.

Although we perform relatively well compared to other countries on a variety of measures, we have recently slipped on a few. According to Forbes, we ranked fifth as the best country in which to do business, with the U.S. at 12th. Previously Bloomberg ranked us number two, then one. The World Economic Forum said that we have the third most stable banking system in the world — down from first for eight years running. Even the annual World Happiness Report ranked Canada seventh, down from sixth. Of more concern, Canada has fallen from fifth to 11th in the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World Report.