James R. Coggins (www.coggins.ca) is a writer, editor, and historian based in Chilliwack, BC.This is the story of a family, middle class, not very rich or very poor. The family was doing well and paying its bills. Then, about ten years ago, the father thought that it would be good for the family to spend a little extra to set it up for the future. He was not talking about incurring great debt, just a couple of thousand dollars. But that year the family ended up spending three or four thousand dollars more than he was bringing in in income. It was still a manageable amount..BARCLAY: A decade of Liberal governments imploded public safety in Canada.However, the family ended up spending about the same amount over its income the next year and the year after that and the year after that. Then there was some sickness in the family, and the overspending accelerated radically. The sickness passed, but the increased overspending continued. The father earns a reasonable income, just over $101,000 a year, although it must be admitted that his income has not gone up very much in recent years. However, this year the family is spending just over $117,000, going a further $16,000 into debt. The father, who is a banker, sees no problem with this and plans to continue overspending every year into the foreseeable future. .It should be noted that the family is not buying a house or accumulating other assets with this extra spending — other than assets such as a car, which will depreciate over time. It has no accumulated savings and is living paycheque to paycheque.The problem is that the family is now $260,000 in debt and is currently paying $11,000 a year in interest, amounts which are expected to significantly increase in future years..PINDER: Is Canada a country?.Any rational person, looking at this family’s finances, would say that the father is very foolish, that the family is deeply in debt, and that it is heading for disaster.However, if we multiply all of those figures by about 5,000,000 and keep the ratios the same, we will recognize that that family is Canada and the banker father is Mark Carney (and his predecessor, Justin Trudeau). James R. Coggins (www.coggins.ca) is a writer, editor, and historian based in Chilliwack, BC.
