One of the world’s major credit rating agencies downgraded Ontario this week, but you wouldn’t know it from the response of the province’s finance minister.

Obviously, politics are politics, and spin is spin. But there’s being on the same page, and then there’s being on the same book.

As The Globe and Mail’s Jane Taber reports, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services took Ontario down to A+ from AA- and warned that the province is a “sustained and projected underperformer on its budgetary performance and debt burden versus domestic and international peers.”

Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa called it a “new rating outlook,” skipping the part about how it’s not only new, but also lower. Then he cited all the really nice things S&P had to say.

So in that spirit, here’s a made-up conversation between Mr. Sousa and S&P’s analysts. Their actual comments are in quotations, but the rest comes from my imagination.

S&P: You’ve got some issues, Charles. “In the next two years ... we expect capital funding needs to cause Ontario's tax-supported debt to peak at 267 per cent of consolidated operating revenues (and its interest payments to remain near 9 per cent of adjusted operating revenues from fiscal years 2015-2017), which we consider very high. While some domestic and international peers display very weak budgetary performances or very high debt burdens similarly, it is the combination of both that sets Ontario apart from the group.”

Sousa: It’s so nice to hear you say that “S&P expects ‘the province to remain on track toward fulfilling its policy objective of eliminating its operating deficit by fiscal 2018.’ Indeed, we are on track to balance the budget by 2017-18 and will do so in a way that is fair, and responsible.”

S&P: Ah, but “like other provinces, Ontario continues to see slow economic growth, which is limiting the natural rate of increase in its key revenue sources, such as personal and corporate taxes. Although the province has had some success in bending its cost curve over the past several years, especially in health care, it still has a large projected after-capital deficit in fiscal 2016 at 10.4 per cent of total adjusted revenues.”

Sousa: I’m so glad you pointed out that “S&P notes that its rating is supported by its view of ‘Ontario’s very strong economy which despite recent slow growth remains well-diversified and wealthy.’ In fact, every major Canadian bank projects Ontario’s economy to grow at a faster pace than the national economy.”

S&P: Yes, it’s a strong economy. But your province will “still have to contend with sizable yearly after-capital deficits, given its large net capital spending intentions. Under our base-case scenario, we foresee Ontario's after-capital deficit remaining above 7 per cent of total adjusted revenues over the next two years.”

Sousa: “Ontario is investing over $130-billion over 10 years in its infrastructure program to build roads, bridges, transit, water infrastructure, schools and hospitals, which will support the creation of over 110,000 jobs per year and grow the economy. Experts such as David Dodge and organizations such as the International Monetary Fund have noted that today’s low interest rate environment and historic under-investments make today an ideal time to invest in infrastructure.”

S&P: “Ontario benefits from what we consider strong financial management. The governing Liberal Party enjoys a majority in the legislative assembly, giving it a strong consensus to pass budgets and effectively implement public policies, such as the cap-and-trade scheme. In our view, Ontario has been slow to fully roll out the spending controls and revenue measures needed to eliminate its structural operating deficit, which has caused its tax-supported debt level to approximately double since fiscal 2008.”

Sousa: I know, right? “Part of the basis for S&P’s stable rating is that Ontario has a stable, majority government and is able to implement policies.”

Ah, you can’t fool me. Or the bank analysts.

“While resolution of the outlook could have been timelier, evidence of a structural deficit and Ontario’s relatively high (and still rising) debt burden helps justify the downgrade,” said Warren Lovely, National Bank’s chief of public sector research and strategy.

“Moreover, we’d note that in its previous rating report, S&P had indicated that maintaining an ‘AA-’ rating would have required the province to both achieve fiscal balance before 2017-18 and place its tax-supported debt burden on a downward track. With neither test having been met, the agency proceeded with the downgrade.”

Fitch Ratings, by the way, affirmed Ontario at AA- and its outlook as stable, citing its plans to slash the deficit and its “strong financial management.” It too, though, warned of its “large and growing debt burden.”