Let me start by saying that I think it's important to be responsible when we sit in the House and we talk to Canadians. I want to again make sure Canadians understand, with respect to the Canada child benefit, that it will not be included in income and will not affect child support payments for divorced parents. The program is better for Canadian families. It helps those families that actually need money to raise their children.
I was proud to represent Canada at the G7, and I can say to you that at the G7 meeting we had an open and frank discussion among the countries there. There was not consensus there, but there was unanimity on the fact that we should all be focusing on growth.
The challenges to growth of the global economy are significant. We've seen a decline in the opportunities in some of the emerging economies around the world. We've seen a greater level of volatility in growth.
We all agreed that in each country's specific situation they should take whatever measures are most appropriate. We identified three different areas that countries might want to focus on: structural reform efforts, monetary policy, and fiscal policy. We recognized that different countries are in different positions from which to take those different measures.
Canada, as it turns out—happily, for our country—is in the best net debt-to-GDP position of all G7 countries, so we are in the best position to make fiscal investments. As you probably know, back in the 1990s our net debt-to-GDP ratio was reduced dramatically under the Chrétien and Martin governments. That puts us in a position where we can make those kinds of investments.
I will tell you that the kinds of investments we're making, which are fiscal investments, are appropriate for us, and I know the members around the G7 table would understand that those are the kinds of things we should be doing with our fiscal position. They are, by the way, similar to what's being done in six out of the seven G7 countries.