Mr. Speaker, the member mentioned The Globe and Mail, so I am happy to bring up an editorial of March 22 in which the editorial board said, “It’s not building roads or bridges or public transit. It’s ongoing program spending, locked-in and permanent....it’s mostly about writing cheques to seniors, parents, aboriginal Canadians, the unemployed and provincial governments”, which will inevitably lead to higher debt.
In fact, the government, on page 242 annex 1 of the budget, says, “Public debt charges are projected to increase from $25.7 billion in 2015-16 to $35.5 billion in 2020-21...”. It also says that this reflects an increase in borrowing requirements due to a projected rise in interest rates over the forecast horizon.
The government is even admitting that it is expecting interest rates to go up. It is expecting the cost of borrowing to go up. In fact, according to its budget documents, probably the fourth highest spending element on the program side will be debt financing.
What does the member have to say to this, that his government is basically increasing our national debt with absolutely no plan to pay it down?