Finance committee  I wouldn't say there are any alarm bells, although it is a key risk to the economy, especially in the household sector. It's more, I think, from the perspective of, yes, household vulnerabilities, but our ability to smooth consumption in the face of what could be the next economic shock.

Finance committee  No, there are no recession doomsayers out there right now. As things go, it's very cyclical, depending on what's going on that day or week and on what the yield curve or labour market report is telling us, so we're always prepared for what could be an economic shock on the horizon.

Finance committee  As published last December, our federal debt-to-GDP ratio is 30.9%. I guess that was our forecasted debt-to-GDP ratio for the conclusion of this 2019-20 fiscal year.

Finance committee  I don't know the number off the top of my head.

Finance committee  I pride myself on being a numbers guy, so I don't want to throw out a number if I don't know it.

Finance committee  Yes, we work with credit rating agencies to review our debt dynamics. We don't just talk about our own debt dynamics, but the debt loads that provincial governments are facing. I think everyone around the room knows that provinces are the most likely to face acute pressures over the coming generation with the costs of an aging population and those pressures.

Finance committee  Go ahead, Andrew.

Finance committee  Yes, sir.

Finance committee  I don't want to speculate, and I certainly don't want to mislead you, so in terms of the overall program spending base in government, which is north of $350 billion, we're working through the government in terms of what would be the review base and how to go about that review.

Finance committee  On the spending side, to be quite honest, we're still working through the details of that process in the review framework with the government. We anticipate that more details will be provided in the upcoming budget on how that will be undertaken.

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, I'll invite my colleague Suzy McDonald back to the table.

Finance committee  Firstly, I know that the associate minister has a thing or two to say about the definition of middle class, and I'm sure you'll have that discussion on Wednesday. From purely a bean-counter and statistical perspective, though, I can say that there is no common definition of “middle class”.

Finance committee  Yes, I'd be happy to give you a general narrative on the economy. More broadly speaking, I think, starting with the global economic perspective, 2019 was a bit of a rough year. It was the slowest growth clip in the global economy in the last 10 years, since the end of the great financial crisis, and it was coming off some highs in 2017 and 2018.

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, perhaps I could invite another official from the department.

Finance committee  As a fact check on the first thing, you're right: it's to rise slightly between the 2018-19 fiscal year and the 2019-20 fiscal year. I can only restate what was in the government's platform, which is their commitment to reduce that debt-to-GDP ratio in each and every year. I think it's what they said, but I—