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Finance

During question period on finance, Conservative MP Michael Chong said interest costs on the national debt are rising quickly and will consume a large share of tax dollars by 2030, and he asked what the government would do if another major crisis hit. He also noted that growth is low this year and asked the government to commit to making major spending announcements in Parliament rather than outside it. Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull replied that Canada has the fastest-growing economy in the G7, which brought in more revenue and lowered the deficit, and said the government is focused on growing the economy while investing in affordability measures, clean electricity, and housing.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

Official text

4 statements

Michael Chong

Conservative
“Interest on our national debt is rising fast. By 2030, paying that interest will cost more than public health care. It is the fastest-growing cost in the budget. What will the government do if another major crisis hits?”

  • A repeated line

    “That is more than we spend on health care transfers.”

    Said 3 times by 3 members since April 30.

    Every time it was said
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, interest costs on the national debt are skyrocketing. By 2030, they will chew up 14¢ of every tax dollar, which is $85.5 billion a year and $8,000 for a typical family of four. That is more than we will spend on public health care, and more than we will spend on a whole range of other social programs. It is the fastest-growing expense in the government’s budget. What is the government going to do if we face another major crisis like we faced in 2008 and 2020?

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Ryan Turnbull

Liberal
“Canada has the fastest-growing economy in the G7. That growth brought in $27.5 billion more in revenue and lowered our deficit. We are managing the public finances well, balancing our day-to-day spending a year early, and keeping debt down compared to the size of our economy.”

  • Government answer in Question Period

    Relevance 46 of 100

    None of this answer addressed the specific question that was asked.

    See full analysis

  • A repeated line

    “Canada has the fastest-growing economy in the G7.”

    Said 3 times by 3 members since June 2.

    Every time it was said
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the member mentioned “fastest-growing”. Canada has the fastest-growing economy in the G7, as of quarter two results, at 3.3%. That has given us $27.5 billion more in revenue, with a lower deficit than projected in the spring economic update. I am happy to confirm for the member opposite that the Government of Canada is exceeding its fiscal guardrails. We are balancing the operating budget one year ahead of schedule and sticking to our deficit-to-GDP ratio declining path.

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Michael Chong

Conservative

Linked statement

“Economic growth is almost zero this year. Over the last six months, the government announced tens of billions of dollars in spending outside of Parliament. I want the government to promise that it will make all major spending announcements here in Parliament for the next six months.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, in most projections, growth remains anemic, below 1% this year, which is essentially zero. Over the past six months, the government has announced tens of billions of dollars in tax expenditures outside of this place, which we only got the details of yesterday in the budget, so I have a simple question. Will the government commit that in the next six months, it is not going to be making any more major tax expenditure or spending announcements outside of this place, and will instead respect Parliament and announce them here?

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Ryan Turnbull

Liberal
“Our goal is to grow the economy as fast as we can so it is the strongest in the G7. We are using the country's money to help people pay for groceries, build clean electricity, end homelessness, and create good jobs.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, what we will commit to is growing the Canadian economy as fast as possible to achieve what we promised Canadians, which is to have the strongest, most resilient economy in the G7. How do we do that? We leverage the strong fundamentals and fiscal firepower this country has to invest in Canadians, to support them with affordability measures like a boost to the groceries and essentials benefit, to move forward with our electricity strategy, to end homelessness and to ensure that we have a growing, prosperous economy that creates good-paying jobs for the future.

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