A new report from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation says the Manitoba government has unsustainably increased its debt by 61 per cent over the past decade.

The federation’s prairies director, Gage Haubrich, said because the province has to borrow money, paying back the interest ultimately falls on Manitobans.

“Those debt interest payments will cost taxpayers about $2.3 billion this year, or about 21 per cent of all revenue that the government takes in in taxes,” he said.

The report indicates that each Manitoban’s share of the growing debt is nearly $25,000 — with around $1,500 in per capita debt interest each year — and the government needs a plan to pay it back.

“The government has to spend less and control its own budgeted spending,” Haubrich said.

“We’ve seen in the last fiscal up

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