Today’s New Year’s baby will enter our world squawking about the $28,700 tax bill it inherited for his/her per capita share of the federal and provincial debt that was created prior to his/her birth.

The federal government’s share of this “gift” is currently about $18,000. But it should be noted that at the close of the fiscal year, the federal debt is expected to increase by $7 billion. This is probably the first time that I hope the government does not honour its costly election promises and put our children and grandchildren deeper into a black hole.

The provincial government’s share of the “gift” is roughly $10,700. But we have an election year ahead and no doubt every party will be buying our votes with future tax revenues and additional debt. I suspect the first ask the little gaffer will make is for an increase in
his/her weekly allowance to offset this inheritance.

For those who don’t remember or don’t know what an allowance is, it was a quaint notion parents entertained to introduce budgeting to children. In exchange for household chores, they earned weekly discretionary spending money, but when it was gone no more was doled out. Clearly, today’s politicians were not the beneficiaries of this early life lesson.

Added to the equation will be the infant’s escalating share of the city’s debt, supposedly $354 million. I say supposedly because the city’s budgeting process is so convoluted it’s hard to determine what we actually owe. Recently, our city received a D-rating for lack of financial transparency from the C.D. Howe Institute. It went so far as to say that non-experts “might think the city’s financial management is utterly inept.”

Of more concern is the city’s proposed future debt growth. In 2019, the idea of a new arena/convention centre was presented and council was going to consult with the wider community on this project. I’m not sure how it happened, but in short order council was looking for downtown arena locations and agreed to spend $100,000 on a business plan. The project is estimated to cost about $350-million-plus, and if past performance is an indicator of future performance, expect that number to escalate.

The library is not satisfied to refurbish its existing building for $57 million. The library board wants a new super-duper building costing a mere $154 million, although they claim they will only have to borrow $87 million, which will be added to the city’s debt. The rest is coming from reserves, sale of building and donations. Ho, ho, ho. Think of the art gallery if you believe this. Of course, you shouldn’t be alarmed because the average household will only pay an additional $5 a year. How many of those “average” homes are there in the city? And when you think about doubling the size of the existing building, what about the impact on the annual operating costs? Think about the police station and the increased operating costs of that facility.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the city’s $19-billion green plan spread out over roughly 30 years. We are talking billions, not millions. My calculator doesn’t do billions, but best I can figure is that $19 billion translates into $633 million a year in spending. (In today’s dollars, a one-per-cent property tax increase nets $2.4 million.) How is this going to be paid for? Well, supposedly we are going to save $33.6 billion by 2050 and make more money than we spent. Yes taxpayers, there is a Santa Claus. But our brand-new little munchkin can duck this debt by simply moving outside the city limits to a small town or city in the Central Metropolitan Area and commuting to our metropolis. In many instances, a resident from places like Warman or Martensville can zip into Saskatoon in a shorter time than it takes a resident of Saskatoon to go from one end of the city to the other. And I suspect our transit system will eventually provide cheap transportation from these surrounding communities into our city to use our costly facilities.

Apart from the birth of a new grandchild, on a personal level 2019 was not a great year, or to borrow a phrase from Queen Elizabeth, it was annus horribilis. I was looking forward to a fresh start in 2020 until holiday conversations shone a light on what is to come. However, a new year is about renewal, hope and resolutions for the betterment of ourselves and our community. Good citizens are already talking about challenges to the status quo and change, and we have a collective obligation to provide responsible leadership for today’s residents and for future citizens.

If we all resolve to clean up our own collective debt, our children and grandchildren will inherit a world full of optimism and opportunity.

-Elaine Hnatyshyn