If the walls are moving in on you, maybe it is time to read the handwriting on them. What I am reading on my walls is not nearly as amusing as the messages left on bathroom stalls.

We now live in a world where people are not concerned about debt and the impact of escalating debt on themselves or on our society. The recent “election ready” federal budget has set the country on a path that will create a minimum of $1.5 trillion in debt. But to voters, debt is a meaningless word, at least until they can’t borrow any more money.

The average Joe can’t fathom what a trillion dollars is, nor has the public been effectively advised as to how much interest will necessarily be spent to service that debt.

A trillion dollars is a million million dollars. A trillion is 12 zeroes — $1,000,000,000,000. However, like debt, a trillion dollars seems to be meaningless words to the public.

What is the interest payable on a $1.5 trillion debt? In truth, I can’t even find an accurate figure for interest on federal debt and I gave up trying. But the fact is, interest payments are a major consequence of debt accumulation.

Like households, governments must make interest payments on borrowed money. Tax revenue directed towards interest payments mean that, in the future, there will be less money available for tax cuts or treasured government programs such as health care, education and social services.

We are currently blessed with unprecedented low interest rates. God help us if we see interest rates hitting 15 or 18 per cent. (I am old enough to remember a time when that happened.)

The federal government is at the top of the food chain. When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was first elected, he promised to deficit spend in the first two years of his mandate to stimulate the economy, and then balance the budget over the last two years of his term. Well, that plan fell by the wayside.

In the most recent budget, Trudeau set the country on the path towards a $1.5 trillion debt, with the possibility of yet more debt to come.

Political columnist John Ivison has diagnosed this as “political oniomania” that being a politician’s uncontrollable desire to improve their self-esteem, their status, and their prospects of re-election by offering voters “cake and ice cream,” then allowing them to come back for “ice cream and cake.”

We may well need a national daycare plan for working families. In today’s world, both parents must work to support their family. I get that.

But shouldn’t there be a means test? Does the family earning six-figure incomes need the same assistance as the family hovering just above the poverty level?

As for seniors, does every 75-year-old need a 10 per cent increase in Old Age Security, plus a onetime $500 payment the month before a pending election? It’s a good election ploy, except for the fact that many of those seniors will have that money clawed back come income tax season.

Again, there should be a means test, and those seniors that are living under financial stress and need additional assistance should be assessed and then supported.

I might even be talked into a guaranteed income program projected to cost $84 billion at the low end or $197 billion to do it properly. But if we had a guaranteed income program, would we need a national daycare plan or a subsidy for seniors?

As for pharmacare, we had a taste of that in Saskatchewan and, if I recall correctly, it led to overuse of pharmaceuticals. I can get on board for providing a program to fund life-preserving medications to those in need, as identified by physicians, but I’m iffy about the universality of such a program.

The federal government isn’t alone dipping into the red ink. Our provincial government is wending itself into a black hole. I acknowledge that the COVID crisis caught everyone off guard, but not all our ever-increasing debt is due to the pandemic.

And interest on the accumulated provincial debt now holds the distinction of being the sixth biggest budget line item, weighing in at a whopping $755 million.

But wait, there is more.

Saskatoon’s civic government is a collection of spendthrifts. And while the debt keeps growing, our councillors keep spending. Our extrapolating city debt includes more than a $100 million for a new library and continued planning for a new downtown arena/convention centre that will hit the $400 million mark before all is said and done.

Previous generations toiled to make life better for their children and grandchildren.

Sadly, we work at burdening upcoming generations with horrendous debt, rendering them helpless to survive much less thrive. It is not a legacy to be proud of, but as the proverb says, pride goeth before the fall.

-Elaine Hnatyshyn