Growing government debt is a key issue for people his age, Ben Lawton said, because they are the ones who will have to pay for it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 leveraging our future,鈥� said Lawton, the founder of , an anti-debt student lobby group initiated by the .
鈥淚t means that my future income is being confiscated. There鈥檚 no other way to put it.鈥�
The 25-year-old Lawton was being interviewed by The Times about an upcoming forum on the costs of green energy policies at taking place Thursday, Jan. 25.
Presented by the TWU chapter of Generation Screwed , the event was expected to take a less-than-positive view about the use of taxpayers money for green purposes, with the title 鈥淒ebt and False profits: Green energy.鈥�
Featured speakers are Canadian Taxpayers Federation BC Director Kris Sims and Resource Works Executive Director Stewart Muir.
A release by Generation Screwed described Sims as a founding reporter for the now-defunct right-of-centre Sun News Network, who covered issues 鈥渞egarding government, personal liberty and the rights of Canadians鈥� while Muir was described as a 鈥渉istorian and award-winning journalist with a passion for the natural legacies of British Columbia.鈥�
The session was expected to devote attention to the 鈥淕reen鈥� Energy Act in Ontario, which the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has criticized with online commentaries that have said like 鈥渕any too-good-to-be-true investments, green energy sounded good in theory, but has been a nightmare in practice鈥� in one posting called 鈥淪laying the Green Energy Dragon鈥� by Candice Malcolm.
A statement by the club at Trinity Western University calls itself 鈥渁 voice crying out in the wilderness to hold government mismanagement to account and raise awareness among students whose futures are being sold out.鈥�
Lawton, who is working on his undergraduate degree in economics and political science at Simon Fraser University, said the group is non-partisan.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just as critical of the last government as this one,鈥� said Lawton.
Lawton鈥檚 online profile notes that he once worked in the mining industry where he learned 鈥渢he importance of free enterprise, trade and capitalism, and how the opportunities they deliver are life changing for Canada鈥檚 most disadvantaged peoples.鈥�
Governments like to borrow money to soften the impact of bad economic times, with the idea those debts will be paid down during good times, but that isn鈥檛 what鈥檚 happening, Lawton maintains.
鈥淚t (the borrowing) never really stops.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e not trying to blame previous generations, but it鈥檚 our generation that鈥檚 going to have to pay for it.鈥�
鈥淭here is absolutely a moral component to it,鈥� he added.
鈥淒o you leave your kids with the bill?鈥�
Lawton said Generation Screwed is fine with the B.C. NDP government doing whatever they want with an operating surplus of $2.7 billion as long as they don鈥檛 go into the red.
He said B.C. is in better shape than some provinces that have gone deep into debt, making even a minor increase in borrowing rates a potential crisis.
鈥淲e now have a huge interest rate risk,鈥� he said.
鈥淵ou could be looking at a near-default situation, at least for some of the provincial governments like Ontario.鈥�
Generation Screwed at TWU is hosting a forum on the Green Energy issue Thursday, Jan. 25, 7 p.m. in the Fraser Lounge, Fraser Hall. Speakers, Canadian Taxpayers Federation BC Director Kris Sims and Resource Works Executive Director Stewart Muir tackle 鈥淒ebt and False profits: Green energy,鈥� asking what are governments in Canada doing to its taxpayers in the name of 鈥淕reen Energy鈥�? How much green will 鈥済reen鈥� cost?
dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com
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