Okay.
I want to ask about opportunity cost. My questions here are based on two primary assumptions. One is that money is real and that money invested is not merely digits on a screen, but represents real value. Two, a dollar can only be in one place at one time.
The Auditor General has said that the initiative needs better performance indicators analysis, but I have found, with all manner of government programs geared toward economic development, that they miss half the balance sheet. They only focus on the purported benefits, not the unseen costs.
Therefore, $400 million invested through the 2012 budget is $400 million subtracted from somewhere else. That money had to have been taken out of the Canadian economy. Perhaps it was borrowed at the time, because there was a deficit in that year, but ultimately, it has to be paid back.
What methodology will Finance Canada employ to ascertain the damage done to the Canadian economy by the removal of $400 million from the hands that earned it in order to fund this initiative?
Mr. Botham.