LMVDR
Active Member
Now do revenue. Here's a hint, Alberta and Texas both have similar levels of revenue.
Ontario is the 4th largest government entity in North America (after US, Canada, Mexico) by revenue and has the 4th largest amount of debt. Quebec is 5th in both too IIRC.
Since division of responsibility changes from country to country, you need to consider the full stack of debt (municipal, regional, federal) as it applies to the rate payer. As a start, California's portion of the US federal debt is over $2 trillion USD, making their total debt around 2.2 trillion USD. Municipal is in addition to that but I don't know what amount.
Specious argument. California has no more control over USA debt than Ontario has over CAN debt.
Credit rating is meaningless and credit agencies are a joke. How did they rate all those sub prime mortgage bonds AAA that promptly fell to zero during the crisis?
Ontario's credit rating is only as high as it is because any agency realizes that Ontario is ultimately backstopped by the Federal Government.
And since when does the ability to go into debt make debt a desirable goal?
We should be living within our means. Wynne throws money and entitlements at her voter base (public sector unions) in order to stay in power to the tragic detriment of the rest of the province that she punishes. It's a vicious cycle that needs to be broken before Ontario turns into Greece and can no longer fund it's ballooning debt.