Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. Yesterday the minister acknowledged that Tuesday's rise in the Bank of Canada lending rate is likely to result in higher than budgeted costs for servicing the government debt. He insisted the estimate for other budget items were conservative and that the overall deficit estimate would be achieved.
It looks like business as usual. Does the minister admit that the high interest rates also will have a negative impact on economic growth and tax revenues and that therefore the overall deficit forecast is also too low?