OTTAWA, ON: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) hailed today’s announcement from the federal Department of Finance of a $400 million budget surplus in the first quarter of 2014-15.
“This surplus number is a big step towards making good on Stephen Harper’s 2011 campaign promise to balance the budget in 2014,” said CTF Federal Director Gregory Thomas. “We may soon be able to take our Federal Debt Clock off the road.”
Thomas revealed that CTF supporters recently paid to reprogram the debt clock to enable it to run backwards, hoping to see a debt repayment schedule in the next federal budget.
“We believe that $157 billion in additional federal debt since the 2008 financial meltdown represents an unfair and unnecessary burden on our children and grandchildren,” said Thomas.
The federal government ran a surplus of $1.6 billion in the month of June alone, compared to a surplus of $200 million a year earlier.
In the first three months of the current fiscal year, federal revenue rose $2.5 billion to $67.2 billion while program expenses fell $400 million to $59.1 billion, with direct program expenses down $1.4 billion. Interest on the debt fell $49 million to $7.6 billion.
“It’s taken eight years to get to this point and hopefully we have another decade of surplus like we saw from 1997 to 2008,” said Thomas.
The CTF launched its National Debt Clock tour in the 2010 fiscal year after the federal government posted a record $55.6 billion deficit in 2009-10.
To view a short video history of the debt clock project, click HERE.
Gregory Thomas, Federal Director, CTF
