Thank you, Mr. Julian.
We actually do have regular meetings and discussions between parliamentary budget officers or the equivalent positions in the industrialized countries, and even in countries that are a little less so.
To my knowledge, no country, at least in the G-7, has not yet brought down a budget. Most countries are facing the same pandemic and the same level of uncertainty but, to my knowledge, most, if not all, of the G-7 countries have tabled at least one budget since the pandemic began.
The lack of a budget therefore sets Canada apart. It deprives Canadians of a good look at what will happen in the coming weeks, months and years, once we have come out of the pandemic. The government has not yet indicated what its plans will be for the economic recovery or for the time after the pandemic. That would probably be included in a budget.
Everyone understands that there is a lot of uncertainty. All the provinces have to deal with that uncertainty, of course, but all provinces and territories, I believe, have been able to table a budget, despite the high degree of uncertainty.
It is therefore a little surprising that the federal government has not yet done so. I don't believe that it is because it can't do so, because the officials in the Department of Finance are top-notch when it comes to crafting budgets. They are certainly capable of doing so.