Proof Kevin Page Is An Idiot

"It's a good thing most Canadians are fixated on the Vancouver Olympics right now.

Otherwise we'd have to think about Canada's horrendous budgetary deficit.

Then along comes Kevin Page and wakes us up in the midst of our Olympic euphoria.

Page, Canada's parliamentary budget chief, is predicting a deficit crisis in Canada as our population ages.

Forget today's deficit. With rising health care and social security costs we're looking at astronomical numbers facing us.

His message? Without a strong plan including immediate spending cuts and massive hikes in taxes, we're in deep doo doo.


The Fiscal Sustainability Report released Thursday by Page says without action now -- not 10 years from now -- the deficit will rise to 100% of GDP by 2050-51 from 33.8% of GDP in 2013-14. And if left unchecked, Canada could be running an annual deficit of four times the size of the economy by 2084-85, the report says."

Wow. This guy has some kind of supernatural ability to see 40 years into the future. He must know in his crystal ball what interest rates will be for that period. Imagine being able to predict economic growth 40 years into the future. Or Canada's GDP 40 years into the future. He also apparently knows what will be in the Canada Pension Plan fund, the rates of unemployment for the next 40 years, etc.

2084-2085? Come on, this guy has jumped the shark so bad from being useful and doing his job to being a partisan hack it's beyond the funny stage. Perhaps he hasn't noticed that most economists have upgraded the prospects for Canada's economy and growth this year, which already alters their numbers put out just months ago.