I can't seem to wrap my head around how the conservatives still portray (and convince the public to believe) that they are fiscal stewards. Both in Canada and the US in the past several decades the Cons/Republicans have far outpaced the Libs/Dems in adding to our national debts. Just because a party 'says' they balance budgets does not mean they actually do. The other obvious aspect to consider is what the debt is used for. Paying for wars? Corporate welfare? tax cuts? infrastructure spending? etc. this is where I have the biggest issue with the right. Not only have they added hugely to the national debt, but they have added to it in recent decades by the largest transfer of wealth from the low/med income bracket to the top few %. Again, very easy to pull up income/wealth inequality data to view for yourself.
https://ipolitics.ca/2015/04/19/no-matter-how-you-add-it-up-harpers-fiscal-record-is-a-catastrophe/
In 1994-95, the federal deficit was 4.7 per cent of GDP. By 1997-98 the deficit had been eliminated and the federal government ran surpluses for the next nine years. The federal debt was actually reduced by $90 billion; the debt burden fell from 66.6 per cent in 1994-95 to 31.4 per cent in 2006-07.
How does this compare to the Harper government’s fiscal record? In 2006-07, the Conservatives inherited a surplus of $13.8 billion — which they turned into a deficit of $5.8 billion within two years.
Since then, they have been in deficit each and every year. In 2009-10, the deficit reached its peak of 3.5 per cent of GDP. They are desperate now to show a surplus in 2015-16 — one surplus in nine years. Since Harper was elected, the federal debt has increased by over $150 billion, wiping out the reduction in federal debt achieved under Chretien and Martin. Not much to boast about there.