Finance committee  I don't know if there's a mathematical rule on how to divvy it up. I think if you look at the trend lines, the debt-to-GDP ratio is now falling, the deficit is likely to be in balance, and the economy is growing. The debt-to-GDP ration is going to fall quite rapidly. I suspect we

Finance committee  Actually, I think Mr. Cross would probably be in the best position to talk about the productivity impacts and potential output—

Finance committee  That's a very tough question, Mr. Chair. With regard to the challenges for our current finance minister, looking at this pivotal point where we're now back to budget balance with a federal structure that is sustainable, I think there are these opportunities. I think you start f

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, we have tax collection agreements with the provinces. It remains to be seen exactly how income splitting will be designed, how rich this program will be, what the parameters will be. There will be, as other panellists have talked about, an impact. This impact will be t

Finance committee  We went through effectively, Mr. Chair, a balance sheet-type recession in 2008-09. I think there's more and more research that looks at the causes that precipitated it. Certainly the buildup in household debt relative to income was a factor, with the drop in asset prices, particu

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think this is a good opportunity to talk about transfer reform. Before anybody increases transfers, I think we should look at the effectiveness of the transfers we're making now, which are in excess of $60 billion overall and, as you say, far in excess of

Finance committee  Well, Mr. Chair, I think there will be issues and it is important that we see more transparency. Mr. Speer has raised this with the issue of potentially deconstructing budgets, looking at current versus capital budgets. On the operational side of government, I think there is a lo

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, I think there are a couple of issues. One is the issue of fiscal sustainability. The other is the issue that I think Philip was dealing with, which speaks to the impact on the economy. I think with respect to fiscal sustainability, it was the work that we did when I wa

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think there is an enormous opportunity right now in an expanded program, in infrastructure spending. I think Mr. Saxton's points were well made. I think we are talking about historic expenditures over the next ten years. But I think given the environment

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, my view on the Canadian economy is that it is growing. I think that if you look at the latest numbers, at industrial production numbers, you see that we're up by about 2.6% on a year-to-year basis. We're growing. We have an unemployment rate of 7%. That's down from 8.5

Finance committee  Thank you, Chair, vice-chairs, and members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. It is an honour to be here with you today. The lead-up to the 2015 federal budget and federal election should be an important time for analysis and debate. The test for our country