Thank you.
I'm happy to provide a bit of background, and maybe in plainer language, about the capital budgeting framework the government proceeded with in budget 2025.
As I think has been made quite clear, the government has indicated that it has no intention of changing the basis of its financial reporting, which is the public accounts of Canada and the Department of Finance's monthly fiscal monitor. Those financial statements are prepared on the basis of public sector accounting standards that are set by independent public bodies in our country. The financial statements in the public accounts are audited by an independent Auditor General.
What the government did this fall, culminating in its first presentation in the budget, is.... The Department of Finance assisted the government's development of a capital budgeting framework in which the government is now able to more closely understand the composition of its spending and shift it towards investments intended to help grow the economy. Really, this is more of an economic framework. It's a decision-making framework to support cabinet, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance.
It is different from the government's financial statements and its public financial reporting. That's the reason the capital budgeting framework has certain definitional differences. It's because the government is trying to make decisions that have different impacts on the economy. To do that, we have to be able to talk, for example, about transfer payments to other levels of government that are used for infrastructure. Those are investments intended to grow the economy, increase productivity and raise the standard of living of Canadians.
A financial reporting framework doesn't allow the government to really weigh and assess the relative value of those kinds of investments. That's what the capital budgeting framework is for. It's more of an economic and decision-making framework.