Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to our guests. Welcome.
You may know that this committee, public accounts, is meant to be a non-partisan committee, much like your institute, and we're always seeking to ensure that taxpayer value for dollar spent is a top priority. We do that often with the assistance of the Auditor General and witnesses like yourself, so thanks for being here.
I want to step back and take a look at the global landscape. There's been a great deal of global interest in Canada and in our strategy in pushing back against the United States and these unjustified tariffs that have been causing so much uncertainty for Canadian families and businesses. There's been a lot of buzz.
I'm going to read one quote. This is from the head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, who said:
[O]ne of these actions is...to reform—modernize the budget framework by doing two things. First, separate operating expenses in the budget from investment—[this allows them] to then focus strategically on investment that [is] progrowth, that can lift up productivity. And then send a signal to companies and to society as a whole that Canada is [focused on growth], we welcome [this] very much.
There's a lot of optimism about the fiscal strategy that the government's engaging in, and I know that your response—I did go back into some media releases and things—might be a little less glowing.
I appreciated the compliments at the beginning, but they were much shorter than the complaints. That being said, it's important that we take all perspectives into consideration so we get the best result for Canadians.
I want to give you an opportunity to respond and maybe provide a bit of a foil for the quote I just read, or perhaps you see some alignments with your research findings in what the IMF head said.