Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  Yes. There is a debate regarding the number of multipliers. People are wondering whether there is a difference in terms of the number of multipliers between 2009-2010 and today, in the context of 2012, 2013 or 2014. We think it's important to point out that economic growth is lower than it could be.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  Thank you very much. We still think that the longer term is always the key issue, and we're gratified when parliamentarians focus on the long term. There are aspects in this budget and decisions have been taken in recent months that certainly deal with the long term. That's a good thing, and these are tough decisions.

Finance committee  Yes, that's a good analysis. As I said, the annex of Budget 2012 contains another analysis that looks at the impact of stimulus measures using the same economic multiplier. We conduct the same kind of analyses, but in the context of fiscal consolidation.

Finance committee  Could you repeat your question, please?

Finance committee  I think that our report contains a chart of the repercussions on the GDP. In fact, we are talking about 0.7% for 2014. The percentage is less than 1% of the GDP.

Finance committee  In the budget, the government decided to reduce the measures for supporting the economy.

Finance committee  The impact on GDP's level of growth can be determined. As far as GDP growth goes, the unemployment rate could increase by 0.3% in 2014, when it would be 7.9% instead of 7.6%.

Finance committee  As I said, the level of transparency in a stimulus context can be compared with the 2010-2011 budget. There are some recent examples. For instance, in 2005, the government provided information on overall cuts, broken down by department and by agency. I think it would be possible to increase the level of transparency and to hold a proper debate on the topic.

Finance committee  Sir, could I respond to that very quickly? In Canada we're still looking at an unemployment rate of roughly 7.2% and we're talking about that employment rate in the context of our participation rate that is at least a percentage point below where it was before we started this recession.

Finance committee  We don't have an analysis for you today. We didn't do a policy analysis option saying what if we did this or did that--what if instead of cutting spending we did, say, a 1% increase to a personal income tax rate, or we increased the revenue intakes. Actually, we don't have that type of analysis.

Finance committee  I had a chance to read the Auditor General's report, but our work is very different from his. In the case of the F-35, we had prepared projections on the costs of procuring, operating and maintaining those aircraft before the government decided to purchase them. Therefore, our work is really different.

Finance committee  I think it is preferable that all parliamentarians obtain adequate analyses and transparent information, and that a proper debate be held to determine whether the F-35s are the best type of aircraft and what the repercussions would be on the Department of National Defence's budget and operating costs.

Finance committee  At the federal level, I think for some period of time we were on a downward path in terms of reducing deficits. That reflects the fact that some of the deficit that we are experiencing right now is simply cyclical, meaning that as the economy gets back to potential, revenues will come back.