“I asked this question twice last week and got no answer. The Prime Minister promised to lower the deficit compared to the size of our economy. The parliamentary budget officer says the government will break that promise. Will the government keep it in the next budget?”

“Mr. Speaker, I asked this question twice last week but did not get an answer. It is an important question because it speaks to the fiscal credibility of the Prime Minister , so again I will ask it. Last budget, the Prime Minister established a fiscal anchor of a declining deficit to GDP. The PBO projects that the government will not keep to this fiscal anchor. Will the government keep to this fiscal anchor in the upcoming budget?”

“The government uses Canadians' pension money to make its growing debt look smaller. Will the government stick to the debt limits it set in its last budget?”

“Mr. Speaker, the net debt calculation the government used in its last budget is the IMF’s net debt calculation, which includes the Canada pension plan. I am sure that Canadians listening would not like to know that the government’s calculation involves using the assets of the Canada pension plan to offset its rapidly growing debt. The Prime Minister came to office with a much vaunted fiscal resume, and again I ask the question, will the government keep to the fiscal anchors it established in the last federal budget?”

“Paying interest on the debt is the fastest-growing cost in the budget. Experts warn that the government will soon spend nearly 14% of its revenue just on interest. The government does not seem to care.”

“Mr. Speaker, a former governor of the Bank of Canada, David Dodge, has a simple rule: The government should be wary when it spends more than 10% of its revenue on debt service costs. The Parliamentary Budget Officer says that figure will grow to nearly 14% in just a few years, and in fact, debt service payments are the fastest-growing line item in the budget. Does the government want this to be the fastest-growing line item in the budget? The Liberals’ actions suggest they do not even care.”

• Echo ×5

  A repeated line

  “A former governor of the Bank of Canada.”

  Said 5 times by 5 members since April 28.

  Every time it was said →

“Past finance ministers kept their promises to lower the deficit. The Prime Minister is breaking his spending limits at the very first chance.”

“Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague very much, but let us spare Canadians the lecture. When Paul Martin was the finance minister, he met every single deficit reduction target and fiscal anchor that was imposed. At the very first opportunity, the Prime Minister is choosing to break it. In fact, there has not been a finance minister in over a decade that has bothered to even care to keep the fiscal promise. What good is a promise if the Prime Minister has no intention of keeping it?”