“Our government manages money well. Canada has the lowest debt ratio and top credit rating among major economies, and our economy is growing fast. We cut spending where we could and cut business taxes to bring in huge new investments. This will bring in more tax revenue and lower our deficit.”

“Madam Speaker, it is great to be here tonight to answer my colleague’s question. Let us put this in perspective. Canada has the strongest fiscal position in the G7. It has the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio. It has a AAA credit rating, which only one other country in the G7 enjoys, which is Germany. This gives it a relatively low debt service cost. The IMF has confirmed that Canada is projected to have the second-strongest growth in the G7. When the current government came into power under the Prime Minister’s leadership, we launched a comprehensive expenditure review, which found $60 billion in savings in terms of optimizing operational budgets and looking for ways to optimize the way the government operates. It was a significant savings exercise. We are focused on a capital budgeting framework, which we developed, and capital formation in the economy is really why the government has moved forward with generational investments in housing, infrastructure and defence, as well as innovation- and productivity-boosting tax measures. This is all to create a virtuous circle within the economy of investment, higher growth and additional tax revenues, which can move us down the path toward reducing our deficit. An “investment supercycle” is what TD Bank has called it recently. I think RBC also called it the same, which is a positive feedback loop of additional investment. We are seeing that working. Canada has added 217,000 jobs, which is twice the rate of the United States. We have had 3.3% second-quarter growth of GDP, the fastest in the G7. Per capita GDP grew by 3.9% in Q2 as real GDP increased and population continued to decline in Canada. Business investment grew at 8.9%, and foreign direct investment is at a nearly 20-year high at $97 billion. We also saw, out of the Prime Minister’s investment summit just recently, that our government attracted from domestic investors, our major financial institutions and pension plans, commitments of almost $500 billion of new investment. Obviously now we have to work to ensure that there is a project pipeline of viable, bankable projects that can be financed by domestic and global investors, but these signs are good news. At the investment summit, as I am sure the member opposite can agree, the Prime Minister announced that we are reducing, cutting in half, our marginal effective tax rate on new business investment, making Canada the most tax-competitive advanced economy in the entire world. That is from a 13% marginal effective tax rate to a 6.4% marginal effective tax rate. That is 10% lower than in the United States, one-third of the OECD average and one-quarter of the G7 average, and it now will apply from 15% of capital assets to 65% of capital assets in our economy. That is going to bring more investment into this country and allow, again, that investment supercycle in Canada to take place. This is responsible fiscal management from our government. I understand the member opposite’s concerns, but I think we have this.”

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“Our government is building a strong economy by investing in workers, businesses, and infrastructure. We are spending this money responsibly, and our economy has grown for two quarters in a row.”

“Madam Speaker, Canadians elected our government with a mandate to take bold action and build the strongest economy in the G7. That is exactly what we are up to. That is exactly what we are focused on. Budget 2025, of course, delivered on that mandate, and our government’s next budget will do the same. It will strengthen our plan to build the strongest economy in the G7 by making generational investments, while preserving Canada’s strong fiscal advantage. We are investing in the workers, businesses and nation-building infrastructure that will drive economic growth and strengthen Canada’s competitiveness, building the strongest economy that we can build and realizing our full potential. At the same time, we are ensuring that those investments are made responsibly, laying a clear path toward long-term prosperity and sustainability for our country. Canadians want the standard of living in this country to go up and that is exactly what we are focused on. That is why seeing real GDP growth in this country per capita for two quarters in a row is significant progress.”