Government Operations committee  Are you talking about stimulus action? Canada's efforts are almost on par with those of the United States. However, in the US, a significant part of the stimulus program is tied to aid primarily to US states, and US states are cutting back significantly on employment. Getting back to Ms.

Government Operations committee  We can't tell you exactly what impact these measures have had. All we know is that there has been a tremendous amount of interest in and many questions surrounding this credit. Businesses in this sector tell us that the impact has been significant. However, I can't tell you whether there is a direct link between this measure and renovation activities.

Government Operations committee  The figure of 220,000 jobs is tied solely to Canada's Economic Action Plan. However, you are correct in saying that before Canada's Economic Action Plan was unveiled in the fall of 2007, the government had announced $60 billion in tax cuts over five years, beginning in January 2008.

Government Operations committee  I really believe a range of factors came into play. One was the reduction in the tax burden, but there were others too. In general, Canadian households, businesses and banks were much healthier, financially speaking, than the residential real estate sector. Canada did not experience the same kind of real estate bubble as the United States did.

Government Operations committee  Yes, but the employment situation nationally, across Canada, is clearly better than it is in the United States. You cannot spend $27 billion without having some impact. We think that our overall forecasts are quite cautious. They are more cautious than the calculations they have done in the United States.

Government Operations committee  That is not something we have done up to now. It would be possible to do it, but it may not be accurate. I do not know if the Department of Finance is able to do it. If you compare the situation in Quebec to the situation in Ontario, you have to understand that the recession had a greater overall impact in Ontario.

Government Operations committee  Our calculations were done from the start of the recession, in October 2008.

Government Operations committee  I understand your concern. Perhaps the answer is just that it is hard to make a perfect assessment of a situation like this. The Congressional Budget Office in the United States has done some work on this. They make exactly the same points. They say that the situation is very difficult.

Government Operations committee  First, the figure of 220,000 jobs is for all the aspects of the plan together. There are tax cuts, there are increased employment insurance benefits, including initiatives for training and for sectoral assistance especially to the automobile and forestry sectors. As for social housing, it is true that spending in Quebec has not moved forward as quickly as in other provinces.

Government Operations committee  Thank you very much. It is a pleasure to be here with Benoit Robidoux and my other colleagues. I thought what I would do very briefly, just to open up the session and provide some context for our discussion, is give you a very quick overview of how the Department of Finance estimated the 220,000 jobs maintained or created by the action plan that we had published in the budget and in subsequent reports.

Public Accounts committee  I would like to thank the committee for your interest. The public accounts is the product of a lot of work across a number of departments—all departments but primarily the central departments of the Receiver General, the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Comptroller General, the Auditor General, and from time to time the Department of Finance.

Public Accounts committee  We're definitely satisfied with the information we're getting from CRA. I think there's been a tremendous improvement over the last several years. One should not stop making improvements; however, both the methodological changes that have been put in place and the frequency and quality of the data we get from the agency have improved tremendously.

Public Accounts committee  The office is up and running now, and that, I would submit, is related to.... Infrastructure will be longer-term in nature. It's not the kind of infrastructure that would be necessarily amenable to stimulus spending.

Public Accounts committee  I can't speak to that specific file, other than to tell you that the office is up and running now. I could provide the chair with a note as to what the nature of the delay was, if that would be helpful.

Public Accounts committee  I think what you will find is that the full impact of the recession will be felt in the current and the upcoming year, and that in part, the fact that the deficit was reasonably small in 2008-09 is a reflection of the timing of the recession--that it took place in the latter part of the year.