Thank you.
Madam Chair, with all due respect and deference to the witnesses, I would like to put forward for debate the motion I gave notice of on Monday, November 17. It reads as follows:
That, given that, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s report, the projected deficit has more than doubled since the 2024 Fall Economic Statement, that the new spending measures transform what would have been a surplus operating balance into a deficit, that he considers that the overly broad definition of capital investments used by the government creates a major discrepancy with his estimates, that the lack of an objective definition of these investments directly influences budgetary decisions, and that the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s stress tests indicate that it is unlikely that the government will meet its budgetary anchor of reducing the deficit-to-GDP ratio, the committee invite the Parliamentary Budget Officer as soon as possible, for a period of two hours, to examine the current budgetary situation, the methodology surrounding capital investments, and the government’s ability to meet its financial commitments; and that the testimony of the Parliamentary Budget Officer must necessarily take place before the study of the budget implementation bill begins.