SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 201

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 29, 2023 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 201 - May/29/23
Hon. Chrystia Freeland
  • May/29/23 8:31:02 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Chair, it is incontrovertible that Canada has a strong and responsible fiscal policy. That has been reiterated by S&P. We have the lowest deficit and the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7 and an AAA credit rating. Those are objective markers and not, frankly, partisan talking points from the Conservative—
56 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 201 - May/29/23
Hon. Chrystia Freeland
  • May/29/23 8:32:16 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Chair, we have been talking about fiscal responsibility. Let me quote the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who said, at the finance committee, “When looking at G7 countries, Canada compares very favourably on net debt-to-GDP.”
38 words
All Topics
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 201 - May/29/23
Hon. Chrystia Freeland
  • May/29/23 8:33:30 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Chair, our debt-to-GDP ratio is coming down. It is at 43.5% and it is going to continue to come—
24 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 201 - May/29/23
Mr. Philip Lawrence
  • May/29/23 8:33:45 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Chair, what was the debt-to-GDP ratio in 2021-22?
12 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 201 - May/29/23
Hon. Chrystia Freeland
  • May/29/23 8:33:55 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Chair, the debt-to-GDP ratio went up strongly during COVID, and that was because we had to spend significantly to support Canadians. It was the right thing to do, and we are seeing the results with a very strong job market.
43 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 201 - May/29/23
Mr. Philip Lawrence
  • May/29/23 8:34:13 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Chair, during COVID, from 2021 to 2022, and then the next year, from 2022 to 2023, the debt-to-GDP ratio went up. Is that not correct?
28 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 201 - May/29/23
Hon. Chrystia Freeland
  • May/29/23 8:34:24 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Chair, the debt-to-GDP ratio went up as a result of our extraordinary COVID spending. In budget 2023, we showed a debt-to-GDP ratio in 2022-23 of 42.4%—
34 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 201 - May/29/23
Mr. Philip Lawrence
  • May/29/23 8:34:43 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Chair, it went up from 42% to 43%, which is odd because, in this very House, the Minister of Finance said, “On this point, let me be very clear. We are absolutely determined that our debt-to-GDP ratio must continue to decline and our deficits must continue to be reduced. The pandemic debt we incurred to keep Canadians safe must be paid down. This is our fiscal anchor. This is a line we will not cross.” Why did they cross the line?
86 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 201 - May/29/23
Mr. Philip Lawrence
  • May/29/23 8:36:37 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Chair, what has been the growth rate per capita, the GDP growth rate? What was been the per capita GDP debt growth rate in the last 10 years?
29 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 201 - May/29/23
Hon. Chrystia Freeland
  • May/29/23 8:36:47 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Chair, I am glad to finally have a question about people, jobs and growth. Canada's GDP grew by 3.4% last year, the strongest level in the G7. In the first quarter of this year, our GDP grew by 2.5%, also the strongest in the G7.
49 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 201 - May/29/23
Ms. Melissa Lantsman
  • May/29/23 9:00:41 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Chair, I will ask the minister about numbers that maybe she does know. Could she tell us what the debt-to-GDP ratio was in 2021-22?
28 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 201 - May/29/23
Hon. Chrystia Freeland
  • May/29/23 9:02:01 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Chair, I am the finance minister, and I remember that it took GDP four months longer to recover following the 2008 recession than it took following the COVID recession. That was because of smart investments by our government to support Canadians.
42 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 201 - May/29/23
Hon. Chrystia Freeland
  • May/29/23 9:05:17 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Chair, what is a fact is that it took four months longer for real GDP to recover following the 2008 recession than it took following the COVID recession, even though COVID caused much deeper economic harm. We invested in Canadians, and we are proud of it because it worked.
50 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 201 - May/29/23
Mr. Adam Chambers
  • May/29/23 9:08:25 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Chair, the minister is obviously not very proud of the government's record. She cannot even answer some very simple questions about how much the government expects to pay on the debt that it issued. Perhaps the government was also misled by the Bank of Canada, which promised Canadians that rates would stay low. The minister says that the government leads the G7 in growth. We are behind a bunch of countries in GDP per capita. The Liberals ran an entire election campaign saying that Harper had low growth. This is what we have here. In GDP per capita, we are behind many countries.
105 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 201 - May/29/23
Hon. Chrystia Freeland
  • May/29/23 9:09:01 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Chair, the Harper government did have low growth. It had a remarkably lacklustre recovery from the 2008 recession. It took four months longer for GDP to recover from the 2008 recession than our recovery took from the COVID recession. It took 27 months for jobs to recover from the 2008 recession, but only 21 months after the much deeper COVID recession, and it was a shocking 110 months for the unemployment rate to—
75 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border