Thank you, Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for being here.
Mr. Asselin, my questions will be for you. Thanks for being here.
In a recent letter to Chrystia Freeland, Goldy Hyder said that he wanted her to avoid spending in the fall economic update and to “set a clear fiscal anchor focused on managing the growing cost of servicing debt.”
Numerous people, whether it's the former governor of the Bank of Canada, David Dodge, the current Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, or even the Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, have all said that deficits fuel inflation. Because of that, in the last 19 months, there have been 10 interest rate hikes, putting Canada most at risk in the G7 for a mortgage default crisis now. All of that spending led to inflation and to these interest rate hikes, and now Canada is in a really risky position.
To quote Goldy in that letter, "With long-term interest rates at the highest they have been in years, it is irresponsible to suggest that economic growth will be higher than interest rates for years to come,” and as you said, “Governments can no longer run permanent large deficits without fear. The era of low interest is no longer with us, and that is a reality the government must address.”
Can you reiterate whether one of those fears is this mortgage default crisis? What other fears are you talking about when you say “fear”?