The Saskatchewan government likes to brag that it’s fiscally responsible compared to other provinces.

But that doesn’t mean anything if every other province is piling up debt and wasting millions of dollars every year on debt interest payments.

The government says that Saskatchewan has “second lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio,” and the “second highest credit rating,” among all other provinces in its latest budget.

That’s technically true and sounds like an achievement, until you look at the competition.

It’s like being the second most sober person in the drunk tank.

Saskatchewan is adding about $2.4 billion more to the debt compared to last year’s budget. By the end of the year, every single Saskatchewanian’s individual share of the provincial debt will about $18,800 in provincial government debt.

With irresponsible borrowing like that, how can the Saskatchewan government claim it’s doing so well?

It’s simple: everyone else is doing worse.

Provincial governments across the country are all trying to win a who can borrow more money competition and taxpayers are losing.

Let’s look at the competition: Ontario has the most indebted subnational government in the world. There’s not a state, province or territory in the world that’s in a deeper debt-hole than Ontario. And Saskatchewan’s closer neighbours are not much of an improvement.

Alberta is running a $5.2-billion deficit this year. And its planning to run billions of dollars more in deficits for at least the next two years.

The Manitoba government is increasing the debt by $1 billion this year. Every Manitoban will owe about $24,000 in debt by the end of the year

The B.C. government is the worst of the bunch. B.C. is projecting a record $11-billion deficit this year and it’s increasing the debt by more than $23 billion. By the end of the year, every British Columbian will owe about $27,500 in provincial government debt.

The B.C. government also got its credit downgraded recently because of “entrenched deficits,” and a “structural imbalance between B.C.’s revenues and expenditures,” according to credit rating agencies.

Instead of taking underserved pride in its relative performance this year, the government of Saskatchewan should look at its neighbours as a warning that it’s time for a fiscal U-turn.

That’s because government debt is like a ticking time bomb, you can only avoid it for so long before it explodes and causes a financial catastrophe.

That time bomb comes in the form of debt interest payments that increase every year as the government borrows more money and racks up more debt.

In Saskatchewan, debt interest payments will cost each Saskatchewanian $702 this year. That’s $115 more per person than last year.

In Manitoba, interest payments are costing taxpayers about $1,550 per person and in B.C. its $908 per British Columbian.

That’s money that’s being wasted only to cover the interest payments on loans that those governments have no plan to pay back.

Debt is not a competition, just because the person beside you is failing to make the minimum payment on their credit card, it doesn’t mean you are doing a good job because you are.

Instead of patting itself on the back for being the best of the worst, the Saskatchewan government needs to compare itself, to, well, itself.

The Saskatchewan Party committed to running a surplus every year and using half of every surplus for debt repayment in its 2007 election platform. In 2008, the government paid down $2.7 billion, or about 40 per cent, of the province’s debt. The government also cut income taxes that year.

Instead of aiming to be the best of the worst, the government needs to aim to get back to being the best of the best by paying down debt and cutting taxes.

Saskatchewan is doing alright compared to its neighbours, but every year the government fails to get back to paying back debt and reducing the amount of money used to cover interest payments is another year wasted.