The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on Ontario Premier Doug Ford to cut spending and taxes in this month's budget.

"Ford told Ontarians his government would be financially responsible, but the numbers paint a different picture,” said Noah Jarvis, Ontario Director for the CTF. “Ford must stop Ontario’s debt spiral before interest charges crush public finances."

Years of government borrowing have driven the province’s debt interest payments to $16.2 billion, or about $1,000 per Ontario resident. If debt interest were a ministry, it’d have the fourth largest budget, higher than the post-secondary education budget.

The Ford government added $31.5 billion to the province’s debt, driving up total government debt to $459 billion.

Debt interest charges are on pace to rise by 5.6 per cent annually for the foreseeable future. The fastest growing item in the provincial budget according to Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office.

The CTF’s pre-budget submission outlines how the government can cut government spending while delivering substantial tax cuts for Ontario taxpayers. Costed measures include shrinking the provincial bureaucracy, ending corporate welfare and ending the per-vote subsidy for political parties.

The CTF’s plan would allow the government to cut the provincial sales taxes by two percentage points while also cutting business taxes.

"Taxpayers can’t afford more debt and interest charges from a wasteful provincial government,” Jarvis said. “Ford should end corporate welfare and cut taxes to get Ontario’s finances back on track."