Discussion · Government Orders
Michael Chong Conservative
“Canada's debt is in worse shape than international reports say. Our provinces carry huge debts, with Ontario owing more than California. Our currency is also weaker than those of other major countries. The government needs to fix our economy by helping businesses produce more, not by spending money to boost demand.”
“Madam Speaker, I disagree with the IMF’s assertion that Canada’s debt to GDP is in good shape. I think that fails to take into account the fact that Canada’s subnational governments have some of the highest, if not the highest, indebtedness in the OECD. If I recall correctly, the Province of Ontario has more debt than the State of California, whose economy is bigger than Canada’s. Subnational debt in the United States is much lower than in Canada, and that is not incorporated into the G7 rankings that the IMF has analyzed, nor is the fact that of the G7 countries, Canada is the smallest currency and is not a reserve currency, unlike the other members of the European Union, in the Eurozone, the United States or Japan. I think that assertion fails to take into account what the member opposite has been talking about. In brief, to finish, the solution is to address supply-side reforms, rather than the government’s approach of always subsidizing demand-side initiatives. That is the fundamental problem with the government’s economic approach.”
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Madam Speaker, I disagree with the IMF’s assertion that Canada’s debt to GDP is in good shape. I think that fails to take into account the fact that Canada’s subnational governments have some of the highest, if not the highest, indebtedness in the OECD. If I recall correctly, the Province of Ontario has more debt than the State of California, whose economy is bigger than Canada’s. Subnational debt in the United States is much lower than in Canada, and that is not incorporated into the G7 rankings that the IMF has analyzed, nor is the fact that of the G7 countries, Canada is the smallest currency and is not a reserve currency, unlike the other members of the European Union, in the Eurozone, the United States or Japan. I think that assertion fails to take into account what the member opposite has been talking about. In brief, to finish, the solution is to address supply-side reforms, rather than the government’s approach of always subsidizing demand-side initiatives. That is the fundamental problem with the government’s economic approach.