That first step on the scales in the New Year tells a story. It’s not just about Christmas dinner. It’s about 365 days of decisions that have become habits that need to change.

Weigh up Premier Doug Ford’s soaring provincial debt and it’s clear there’s an urgent need for ironclad resolutions to cut spending and reverse the borrowing.

Here’s the habit Ford’s developed: Every year, he increases spending a bit more than revenues go up.

Ontario’s revenues have gone up by $68.4 billion since Ford became premier, or about $9.8 billion every year.

The problem is that Ford’s spending has gone up by $90.6 billion, or about $12.9 billion annually.

The results are as predictable as late-night snacking: Ontario’s debt has gone up by $121 billion.

And the problem is only getting worse. 

The government is planning to add $31.6 billion to the provincial debt this year, the biggest inflation-adjusted annual debt increase since 2011-12. That’s because Ford is increasing spending by six per cent even though it’s assuming trade issues and other challenges will reduce revenues by 1.4 per cent.

Families seeing a falling income cut back on their spending. Meanwhile, the Ford government is ramping up borrowing to increase spending. Anyone who has managed a household budget knows continuously piling on debt is a bad plan for long-term financial stability. 

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

“I can promise you one thing — and you can take this to the bank — we will be balancing the books,” said Ford when he campaigned to become premier.

He also promised to cut taxes for those making less than $86,000 by 20 per cent because: “We believe that the taxpayers are a lot smarter at spending their money than any government.”

But like resolutions that don’t make it through the first week of the New Year, the reality is very different than the promises.

Spending has gone up. Debt has gone up by $121 billion. And promised income tax cuts for the middle class still haven’t happened.

Ontarians are already dealing with the consequences of the government’s plunge into debt. 

The Ontario government will waste $16.2 billion paying interest charges on the provincial debt this year. That’s over $3 billion more than what the government is spending on post-secondary education and is enough money to build about 464 schools. 

And as the provincial debt continues to grow, the debt interest problem will only get worse. 

Ontario’s budget watchdog has recently estimated that debt interest charges will be the fastest growing item in the budget and they’re expected to rise by 6.1 per cent annually.

It is clear that Ontarians want the Ford government to do something about rising debt interest charges. A recent poll from Leger found that 75 per cent of Ontarians are concerned about the province’s debt interest charges. 

To begin tackling Ontario’s debt problems, Ford needs to make some major resolutions. 

First, ending the government’s addiction to borrowing requires the government to cut wasteful spending. Ford had a particularly bad year in 2025 as he massively hiked pay for MPPs along with a premium pension plan, permanently extended Ontario’s political welfare program and hiked corporate welfare spending to record highs. 

Reversing these costly policies would provide billions in savings for taxpayers and establish the government’s commitment to get spending in line. For example, completely scrapping corporate welfare would save taxpayers $11.9 billion. If the province cut those handouts to a few corporations, it could cut business taxes and give every entrepreneur a chance to weather the storm of American tariffs.

Plus, cuts to wasteful government spending would allow Ford to deliver the big tax cuts he promised in 2018. Even smaller tax cuts like ending the tax-on-tax charges at gas pumps, ending sales taxes on used goods or ending the Ontario Health Premium would go a long way towards leaving more money in the pockets of taxpayers. 

Ontarians clearly want a government that can get control of the province’s finances and deliver tax relief to ease the affordability crisis. That means that Ford needs to change his approach and make some serious resolutions. At the top of his list of New Year’s resolutions, Ford needs to prioritize ending the government’s debt craze by cutting wasteful spending.

This column was originally published in the Toronto Sun