Mr. Speaker, the economy is shrinking at twice the rate originally forecast by the Bank of Canada. Over 200,000 jobs have been lost so far this year and nearly 400,000 will vanish by June. The tax base is plunging. The deficit is soaring. The economy is not performing as the government pretended it was in its probation report.
That is the assessment provided by the Conservatives' very own Parliamentary Budget Officer, the officer they selected to be their watchdog. How can they just dismiss him now as some kind of hysterical rogue alarmist?