Tommy Douglas knew runaway debt was immoral. Conservatives couldn't agree more
Our government is acting on its mandate to restore fiscal sanity to our province — to protect the things that truly matter
There once lived a Canadian who is revered today for his vision, compassion and prudence.
He believed that it was wrong for governments to run up huge deficits and debt; that it wasn’t fair for people to fork money out of their jeans on the good-faith understanding that it was meant for schools, roads, hospitals and support for their less fortunate neighbours — only to see it wind up paying interest to big banks. So, as premier of his province from 1944 to 1961, he delivered 17 consecutive budget surpluses, to drastically reduce interest costs and have more to spend on public services. It is a record of fiscal achievement that has never been equaled.
His name was Tommy Douglas.
So I wonder what Tommy would make of his NDP descendants at the Ontario legislature. Not a day goes by when the slightest trace of fiscal discipline isn’t met with outrage from the opposition benches, accompanied by charges of “putting our children at risk” and “abandoning the most needy.” It’s the same in some quarters of the news media. Click-bait headlines about our government feature frightening language such as “slash,” “ripping away resources” or “taking the axe” to one thing or another through “secret plans.” (Like our spring budget, for example, which is about as secret as a grocery store flyer.)
https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/lisa-macleod-tommy-douglas-kn...