"For the most eloquent argument for restraint, go to debtclock.ca – and watch Canada’s debt expand, profligate moment by profligate moment." - Neil Reynolds, Globe and Mail (July 7, 2010)
In 1993, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation commissioned the construction of a giant debt clock – 12 feet long by 5-and-a-half feet high – with changeable faceplates for the federal and each provincial government. The clock displayed the per-second increase in debt along with the share for each Canadian family.
 The clock was toured around the country and made headlines everywhere it went. The clock went into temporary retirement once the federal government balanced the budget in 1997 and began paying down the federal debt.
In 2011, we pulled the old debt clock out of retirement and toured it around the country once again, warning of the size and growth of the federal debt once again. You can get details on the tour at www.debtclocktour.ca.
In 2008-09 the debt clock climbed to $463,700,000,000. In 2009-10 the debt clock climbed by $1,756 per second, taking our federal debt up to $519,097,000,000. In 2010-11, the debt clock climbed by $1,078 per second, taking our federal debt up to $550,327,000,000. In 2011-12, the debt clock climed by $982 per second, growing the debt to $581,300,000,000. After April 1, 2012, the clock, and our federal debt began growing by $669 per second. That’s $40,145 per minute, $2.4 million per hour, or $57.8 million every day! By March 31, 2013, Canada’s federal debt is expected to hit $602.4 billion.
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