Our provincial and local governments have caused this structural deficit by giving civil servants more than the economy can handle.  Simple. There are lots of facts out there to back this statement up.  Until we start providing compensation packages to civil servants that are more in line with what private sector workers can expect and get their work force down to a reasonable level, we will see ever ballooning expenditures, ever increasing deficits  and reduced services. Unless you've managed to get a 649 job (cash for life) with the civil service, you can expect an ever decreasing standard of living.  However, there is no chance of ever balancing out government budgets in Canada.  This is just not in the interest of the public sector unions and there are enough of them to vote in any party they want.