Mr. Speaker, when the government presented the budget a few weeks ago, many Canadians suspected that the finance minister had used creative accounting to avoid showing a surplus. That way the government could say there was no money for major debt reduction or tax relief.
Now the auditor general has confirmed those suspicions. He is threatening not to sign off on the budget because of serious breaches in accounting practices.
Why is the Prime Minister not following proper public sector accounting principles in the preparation of the budget? What is the government trying to hide?