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The Independent, Canadian Statesman Weekender, Bowmanville, Saturday, December 18,1993 13 Clock Ticking on Provincial and National Debt by Paul Pagnuelo The Ontario Taxpayers' Federation They stood in absolute awe, mesmerized mesmerized by its sheer size. The scene was one which repeated itself in Barrie, Barrie, St. Catharines, Toronto and Delhi. Delhi. The event was the unveiling of a national debt clock by the Ontario Taxpayers Federation. The clock which measures eight feet high and twelve feet long, is owned by the Canadian Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the OTF's parent organization. What captured the attention of people was not so much the size of the clock, but the size of the message it displayed - the combined debt of the federal and provincial governments governments in Canada. It's unveiling intentionally coin cided with the Ontario leg of a cross country tour by Sir Roger Douglas, New Zealand's former Finance Minister Minister who is credited with bringing his country back from the brink of bankruptcy. Both events were designed to drive home to Ontarians the seriousness seriousness of our fragile economic position and consequences: If, we continue to leave the situation unchecked. The over capacity crowds who turned out to see the clock and to hear Douglas' message to Canadians were stunned by the chilling reality of it all. As of the beginning of December, the country's federal and provincial governments were in hock to the tune of $812,691,000,000. And if that scares the living pants off you, consider consider the even more frightening fact that the number excludes the debt of municipal governments, school The Toronto Star's tribute to the '93 Blue Jays *Copies now available $099 for only ... O Re g. $10.99 Wed. to Sat. - Dec. 15 -18 only at No ... No Turkeys, Just the Blue Jays! The Book Studio 20 King St. W. Bowmanville Telephone 697-2635 boards, crown corporations, and unfunded unfunded liabilities like the Canada Pension Plan. And in the missing numbers like. $36 billion for Ontario Hydro's I.O.U.s, $11 billion in unfunded unfunded liabilities at Ontario's Workers Workers Compensation Board, the Unemployment Unemployment Insurance Commission's accumulated deficit of almost $6 billion billion and what do we get? A debt clock which would have short circuited circuited as it raced to climb to a dizzying height somewhere in excess of 1.1 trillion dollars. Ignoring these add-ons, the sobering sobering truth is our national credit card is growing at the rate of $2,204 a second second or more than a $132.thousand a minute. As Canadians rise every morning, it means by the end of the day we'll be another $190 million deeper in debt. If we wanted to clear the slate, every Canadian would have had to have coughed up $28,230 back on December 1st. For a family of four the bill would have been $112,920 - significantly more than most of us could come up with if we sold off everything we owned, including the family dog and cat. The message which Douglas wanted to leave with Canadians is it's time to bite the bullet. For the last three decades we've been living in a fool's paradise. We've treated ourselves to a standard of living that the nation can no longer sustain. Cunning politicians have deluded us into believing we could afford it. Instead of making us pay at the time with higher taxes, they created a false sense of wealth by borrowing. The greatest gift we can all give our children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews this Christmas is to insist insist that our governments stop playing playing Santa Claus and start playing Scrooge. Because the so called government government freebies aren't free at all. With the bills for all this madness about ready to come due, it won't be ceived no benefit from our reckless you or me who gets stuck paying spending will be the ones picking "up them. Those who had no say who re- the tab. Say no to snow by saying yes to a John Deere snowblower. Choose from 8 rugged, dependable models, all with money saving rebates of up to $140.00. They come with cutting widths of up to 32 inches and throw snow higher, faster and farther than ever before. Controls are at yoür fingertips so you can put the snow where you want it. Electric starts are available for all models. John Deere starts strong and works hard. That's reliability you can count on all winter long. Factory rebates only last until December 27. And that's no snow job. So hurry to your nearest John Deere dealer today. Nothing Runs Like a Deere® iEVERGREENQ m FARM St GARDEN LTD. 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