Quebec's total public sector debt will hit a record $280 billion today at 7 p.m., according to calculations on interest and spending by MEI, an independent think tank.
The debt in the provincial public sector has grown from $221.9 billion to $280 billion in less than seven years, according to the organization.
MEI's leader chalks this up to years of running recurring deficit budgets and continued infrastructure spending.
"The government debt should cause deep concern among Quebecers, who will someday have to pay that debt with additional taxes," says MEI CEO and President Michel Kelly-Gagnon, "Workers are already taxed and taxed from all sides, and efforts to consolidate public finances must now be explored the government, which must thoroughly review its expenses."
The $280 billion figure represents all public sector debt, according to MEI, including the province's budgetary debt—which at last count sits at about $187 billion—plus the combined debt of health and education networks, as well as budgetary shortfalls among municipalities and other enterprises managed by public funds.