Murphy’s Logic: Nova Scotians deserve a plan for our billions in debt

Steve Murphy says Nova Scotia needs a plan for handling its growing debt.

During the election campaign that first made him premier in 2021, Tim Houston said he was willing to spend whatever it takes to fix health care in Nova Scotia. Hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s a promise he’s kept, at least in part.

The health-care budget is now close to $6 billion a year. There have been significant improvements – whether the system is fixed or even close to being fixed is a matter of opinion, fueled by politics.

In 2021, the same Tim Houston promised to balance the province’s books in six years. That promise is nowhere close to being kept. His government has just reported it’s on track to rack up a deficit of $1.2 billion this year. In a province of roughly a million people, that’s about $1,200 per person, and that’s for this year alone.

The province’s debt, the accumulation of all government deficits, is projected to be $22 billion. That’s $22,000 per person. These numbers are so big, it’s easy to think it’s not real money, but it is.

A province’s ability to finance its debt is determined by credit ratings that reflect government’s handling of public spending. Larger debts bring high interest charges. Few would argue with the importance of a well-funded health-care system.

But money spent on debt servicing is money that can’t be spent on government programmes. Tim Houston says not to worry, Nova Scotia can grow its way out of debt, with untold future profits from his Wind West offshore energy project. That’s the same thing 1980s Premier John Buchanan said about the untold riches from offshore oil and gas. We know how that turned out.

It’s time for Tim Houston to tell Nova Scotians how much further into debt he’s willing to go and whether he’s still committed to balancing the books and, if so, when and how he plans to do it. Future generations, who will have to pay, have the right to know.