GF🇨🇦

Watch for this trick in this week's Canadian budget. Ottawa will brag about “low net debt.” They started doing this when CArney got elected. What they won’t tell you is that the only reason that number looks good is because they’re subtracting roughly a trillion dollars in CPP and QPP assets. Those funds are not government money. They’re held in trust for workers and retirees. The feds can’t spend them, borrow against them, or use them to cover their own deficits. Subtracting them is not standard accounting. In fact, most other countries don’t do this because the money is earmarked and legally unavailable for general government spending. This is how they plan to conceal the real borrowing binge. Gross debt keeps rising, debt-service costs are exploding, and they’re using our pension savings as an accounting offset to pretend there’s still fiscal room. Don’t fall for the “net” number. It's a deliberate sleight of hand. 1/