The question concerns the relationship over the last twenty years of the size of selected federal government expenditure programs to the size of the overall Canadian economy, as measured by Statistics Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) estimate. The following table presents Statistics Canada estimates of GDP, values for the requested federal government expenditure programs and those values expressed in a ratio to GDP for the period 1975 to 1994. The table also includes notes briefly explaining the sources and certain aspects of the estimates which might influence their interpretation.
Question No. 156-