Article content

The economy bounced back and … we’re going to be paying those stimulus dollars 20, 30 years from now if we don’t get our act together

OTTAWA — The country is about to pass a red ink milestone that the Canadian Taxpayers Federation says is completely unnecessary.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Canada urged to 'get act together' as national debt to hit $600-billion Saturday Back to video

The national debt is set to reach $600-billion just seconds before 11:19 p.m. ET Saturday, says the federation, which has set up a “debt clock” to let everyone view the event online.

That works out to nearly $17,200 for each person in the country.

It should never have reached that level, said federation director Gregory Thomas, who blamed the Harper government’s economic stimulus and other spending for the historic debt level.

The stimulus spending was unnecessary, Thomas told a Friday news conference.

“The economy bounced back and … we’re going to be paying those stimulus dollars 20, 30 years from now if we don’t get our act together.”

At the current rate, Canada’s national debt is rising by $74.6-million a day, or $863.27 every second.

The government says the spending under its so-called economic action plan was necessary to maintain and create jobs during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.