The Canadian Taxpayers Federation debt clock rolled through Keremeos on July 2, stopping on Seventh Avenue in front of the Review office for a short period.
Jordan Bateman, B.C. Director for the CTF was on hand to speak to passersby about the burgeoning provincial debt. With the debt clock’s electronic update flashing constantly from the trailer side behind him, Bateman noted that the good news in B.C. was that the debt was 250 million less than originally calculated, but the bad news was that the debt was growing by six dollars per second faster than originally calculated.
“We’re funded mainly by private donations,” Bateman explained of the CTF.
“We have around 22,000 individual donors, averaging $50 dollars apiece. It’s a very grass roots organization.”
After completing the B.C. tour, the debt clock travels east to Ontario where it will tour communities there, displaying that province’s debt load.
People are encouraged to sign a petition supporting balanced budgets and a debt free B.C. at:
www.taxpayer.com
Individual debt in B.C. is currently calculated at $12,398 per resident. That figure doesn’t include our individual federal debt portion, which amounts to an addiditional $17,200 per person.
In the time the clock was parked on Keremeos’ main street - about half an hour - B.C. debt rose by about $385,616.5. Bateman was concerned about the clock’ s electronics, subject to sweltering heat in the Similkameen on Tuesday.
“It’s probably the hottest temperature the clock has ever been in,” Bateman said.
For more information on the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, see:
taxpayer.com