Mr. Speaker, we all know about the imminent downgrade of Canadian debt by Moody's. Moody's primary concern is not the deficit for this year or next year. It is mid-term factors. It knows full well that the 3 per cent target will leave the government open and an inevitable downturn in the U.S. economy will cause an escalation once again in the debt-GDP ratio. The minister knows that.
Once again, will the minister tell the House, if he has no idea how the government is going to achieve its ultimate target, how they can assure investors that the deficit-GDP ratio will not again spiral out of control once we have a downturn in the U.S. economy?