Dear Millennials:

It’s time we had a talk. I don’t know if you noticed but Ontario has been treading in uneasy waters for a while. Since 2003 we have been under the reign of the Ontario Liberal Party and, unfortunately for us, the mistakes and poor policy decisions that have been made are finally catching up to us. Hence, I think it is time that we as a generation began to do something about it.

In April, our current government released the 2017 Ontario Budget. For the first time in a decade the 2017-18 provincial budget eliminated the province’s longstanding deficit, calling for a “balanced budget.” This should have been cause for a sigh of relief amongst Ontarians who have watched the deficit reach record highs. However, it is clear that Ontarians – especially Millennials – should not free themselves from worry just yet.

While the current budget claims to be “balanced,” Ontario’s financial accountability officer, Stephen LeClair, has warned of future budget deficits. Accordingly, unless the current government makes significant fiscal policy adjustments to its budget by including major spending cuts or revenue increases, deficits are set to make a comeback as early as next year. Eventually, LeClair claims that the deficit could grow to a whopping $6.5 billion by 2022. Hence, it is no wonder that Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown believes that the current “balanced budget” is simply an “illusion” cooked up by the Wynne Liberals to trick voters in the upcoming election, slated to be held in the spring of 2018.

As a naysayer might point out, the claims of our financial accountability officer are just that – “claims.” The budget is currently balanced, maybe the Wynne Liberals have changed their ways. This, however, would be an ignorant assumption.

Even with a “balanced budget,” Ontario’s finances remain dire. Let’s take a quick look at our province’s debt. In the last budget presented by the Progressive Conservatives in 2003 under former Premier Ernie Eves, Ontario’s budget stood at about $110 billion. Since then, Ontario’s Liberal governments have tripled the province’s net debt. This year, the debt is projected to reach $312 billion, which equates to around $22,000 for every Ontarian. (Yes, you owe more money towards Ontario’s debt than you would need to buy a new Honda Civic or Fiat 500L).

And that’s not all –  the debt is expected to continue to grow, with forecasts projecting Ontario’s debt to reach $336 billion in the 2019-2020 fiscal year.

The consequences of Ontario’s debt are sufficient causes for worry.

The interest to be paid on debt is this province’s fourth largest area of spending and currently stands at around $11.6 billion for the current fiscal year. It is also this province’s fastest growing spending area. Imagine: the rate at which we are funding our debt increases by more than the rate at which we fund our health care system and our education systems. That is like spending more on your credit card debt than your actual needs. Does that even make sense?

No, it doesn’t. That is the point. If the Wynne Liberals continue to dig this province deeper into debt (and there is evidence that they will, considering this is an election year with many promises to be made), interest payments will continue to grow and can eventually displace spending on things Ontarians care about.

While not highlighted enough, it is clear that it is Millennials who will be forced to deal with the consequences of the poor economic choices of Ontario’s Liberal government. The Canadian Taxpayer’s Association have gone so far to even call Millennials, “Generation Screwed,” because it is this generation who will be forced to foot the bill for the economic mess created by the current government and those before it. More specifically, it will be up to Millennials to hand over their hard-earned dollars to service the debt incurred by the Ontario government to date. Additionally, as the debt continues to grow, so too do the interest payments necessary to service that debt: a higher debt leads to increased funds to service that debt, which leads to greater borrowing, and in turn, higher interest payments.

The consequence of this is that more money will be spent paying back interest payments on the province’s debt rather than on the services required by its citizens.

And debt isn’t all us Millennials have to fear. Debt is only one of the many increased expenses that Millennials will be forced to deal with. What about the cost of hydro?

Hydro prices represent a significant problem for Ontarians who have watched their electricity bills skyrocket in recent years. To rectify this, the Wynne government has recently announced their Fair Hydro Act to relieve the current burden on ratepayers. However, this so-called “fair” plan does not “relieve” this burden as it claims. Relieving the burden on increasing hydro costs would require reforming the policies that created the problem in the first place. What the Fair Hydro Act does instead is pass the increasing cost of hydro down the road, onto Millennials.

Let me explain. The Wynne Liberals have proposed that they would like the government to take on more debt today to reduce energy bills for the next ten years. Conveniently, this would allow for the illusion of lower hydro costs in the fast approaching 2018 election year. After this 10-year period, Wynne’s government will apply a new charge onto future generations, termed “The Clean Energy Adjustment.” This new charge will ensure that the estimated $28 billion (including interest) of debt this plan leaves Ontarians on the hook for will be paid back. It is another Liberal Band-Aid solution which will hurt Millennials and their wallets in the future.

Ontario’s Millennials will also suffer from some further mishaps and poor policy decisions that the McGuinty-Wynne Liberals have made. For example, check out this recent study conducted by Generation Squeeze, a non-profit social enterprise that researches and raises awareness about the “squeezing” of young Canadians by our government.

There are countless examples that indicate that Millennials should worry about their future in Ontario. However, instead of listing these examples, I would like to offer a glimmer of hope.

Ontario’s upcoming election in the spring of 2018 is an important one. Millennials can use their vote to make a change for the better. They should not accept the current state of their Ontario. There are candidates who can offer them better and whom they should conduct research into and listen to. Millennials need to use their voice and vote for a better future. I know I will.