The Lantz government is maxing out the province’s credit card and Islanders will be stuck with the bill for generations to come.

That is the clearest takeaway from Budget 2026, where the Lantz government plans to borrow $410 million. As a result, P.E.I.’s total government debt is projected to rise by nearly 20 per cent in just one year.

And it doesn’t stop there.

The government plans to pile on another $1.3 billion in debt over the next three years.

That kind of borrowing comes with a real cost. Interest charges alone will cost taxpayers $201 million this year. That is money that won’t go to health care, roads or tax relief. Instead, it will go straight out the door to service government debt.

That works out to about $1,100 per Islander.

This level of borrowing is unsustainable. The longer it continues, the more pressure there will be to hike taxes on Islanders to pay for today’s wasteful spending.

In fact, this issue has already been flagged by the province’s auditor general as needing to be immediately addressed.

“The numbers I presented were really to highlight the increasing debt,” said Auditor General Darren Noonan in a recent legislative committee. “It's going to be a burden on future generations until we get a plan in place to deal with it.”

That’s why Premier Lantz must change course.

That starts with spending restraint, eliminating waste and making sure taxpayers get value for every dollar government takes from them.

None of this will be easy. But tough times call for tough decisions.

The first step is simple: stop the spending spree with a focus on reducing non-health care related spending.

The Progressive Conservatives promised to “fix” health care through increased spending during the 2023 provincial election. But while health-care spending has increased by 36 per cent, non-health-care spending has also jumped by 28 per cent.

If the government reduced non-health-care spending to 2022 levels, it could save taxpayers $405 million. That is real money that could help put the budget back on track.

The second step is ending corporate welfare.

Island taxpayers are on the hook for more than $244 million every year in business subsidies. That is a massive amount of taxpayer money being funnelled into politically favoured deals instead of broad-based tax relief that would help every business compete.

And the evidence is clear: economic research has consistently found no statistically significant relationship between business subsidies and economic growth.

But Islanders don’t have to look far for proof.

Biovectra received $10 million in taxpayer-funded subsidies in 2021. Yet now the company is cutting jobs and laying off Islanders en masse.

The third step is conducting a full review of all government spending to identify more savings. Other places have done it and P.E.I. can too.

The Newfoundland and Labrador government launched an independent review of its finances to find ways to cut costs and fix its budget crisis in 2020. That process identified a whopping $3.6 billion in savings over six years.

The federal government followed a similar path in the 1990s when former prime minister Jean Chrétien launched a sweeping program review to determine which spending was truly necessary. That review led to $9.8 billion in savings, which was nearly 19 per cent of total program spending at the time.

Islanders deserve the same kind of scrutiny over how their tax dollars are being spent.

The Lantz government must reverse course and act decisively: stop the spending spree, cut waste and review spending.

Otherwise, today’s reckless borrowing will mean higher taxes and bigger bills for future generations.

Islanders deserve better.