Stop Pretending Government Funds Anything — We Do

Let’s clear something up: there is no such thing as “government-funded.” That phrase gets thrown around too often in press releases and campaign speeches, as if it describes some magical pot of money the government pulls from the clouds. But every cent the government spends comes from you. It’s taxpayer-funded. It’s money taken from your paycheque, your gas tank, your grocery bill, your property, your business. Every government “program,” every “announcement,” every “investment” they brag about is done with your money.

And the truth is, we’re running out of room. There’s only so much you can tax before you start doing real damage. Canada passed that point a while ago.

We now live in a country where the average person works until early June just to pay their taxes. Where small and mid-sized business owners are crushed under a pile of forms, fees, audits, payroll taxes, and levies. Where provinces like Manitoba continue to grow their bureaucracies, while basic services falter. Our emergency rooms close without notice. Our roads crumble. Our courts are backed up. And yet governments at all levels act like more spending is the only answer.

It’s not.

We have to stop pretending government growth is sustainable. It isn’t. Governments don’t create wealth — they consume it. The real growth engine is private enterprise. Always has been. But when that engine is overtaxed and overregulated, it slows down. That’s where we are today.

Let’s look at the numbers. The federal government’s debt is now north of $1.2 trillion. The interest on that debt is approaching $60 billion a year. That’s more than we spend on national defence. And it’s growing.

Meanwhile, the Manitoba government has a budget of roughly $24 billion — for a province of just over a million people. That’s nearly $24,000 per man, woman, and child. Are we getting value for that? Are services more efficient? Are outcomes improving?

Take a walk through your neighbourhood and ask yourself: where is that money going?

We don’t have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. And it’s not about cutting core services — it's about cutting the bloat. It's about reducing administrative overhead, ending vanity projects, halting the endless studies and consultants, and forcing departments to deliver value like any private sector company would have to.

The government was never meant to do everything. But it tries. It funds arts grants for politically connected friends. It builds office towers for itself. It hands out subsidies like candy. And then it turns to taxpayers and says, “We need a little more.”

No. We’ve given enough.

The size of government in Canada has grown dramatically over the past 25 years. In 2000, federal program spending was about $120 billion. This year, it’s more than three times that. Has your household income tripled in that time? Likely not. And unlike your family, the government doesn’t have to cut back when things get tight — it just raises taxes or borrows more.

Worse, politicians rarely talk about restraint anymore. They don’t campaign on efficiency. They promise more — more childcare, more housing programs, more rebates, more “free” this and “free” that. But it’s not free. It’s paid for by someone else — today or tomorrow.

And often, it’s tomorrow. That’s the other hard truth. Governments don’t just take your money — they borrow from your children’s future. Every deficit run today is a tax hike deferred. And we’ve gotten comfortable deferring.

It’s time to get serious. If we want to keep this country stable, competitive, and fair, we must reduce the size of government. That means fewer departments, not more. It means shrinking bureaucracies, not growing them. It means measuring results and demanding accountability from those spending public dollars.

We also need to drop the idea that every problem can be solved with a program. That’s lazy thinking. It ignores the power of families, businesses, communities, and charities to lead change. It also assumes bureaucrats know better than citizens. They don’t.

And here’s the other problem: big government means big politics. It creates an environment where elected officials think their job is to manage your life instead of protect your freedoms. When the government gets too big, democracy actually shrinks. Why? Because power gets centralized. Because influence gets bought. Because people get dependent on government decisions, not empowered by their own.

That’s why reducing government isn’t just about saving money. It’s about restoring balance. It’s about putting power back where it belongs — with people. It’s about respecting taxpayers instead of treating them like a bottomless ATM.

If Canada wants to grow again, if Manitoba wants to compete, if we want to leave something solid behind for our children and grandchildren, we need to make tough decisions now.

That starts by cutting government spending. It starts by getting serious about what government should and should not do. It starts by remembering that the money politicians spend doesn’t belong to them.

It belongs to you.

And you deserve better.