The hon. member for Carleton.
House of Commons Hansard #27 of the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was ndp.
House of Commons Hansard #27 of the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was ndp.
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, it was $343.2 billion as of the fiscal snapshot. There are no new numbers tonight.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Chair, I want to clarify for the finance minister that there is a difference between debt and deficits. I asked for the debt. Is she sure the debt is just $300 and some-odd billion?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Yes, Mr. Chair, and I want to be clear with members. I am going to refer to numbers from the snapshot, not new numbers tonight. I will tell the member more with the next question.
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, I sure do. It was projected in the fiscal snapshot to be $1.060 trillion.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Chair, I think that number is hard for any of us to say, in fairness, so I will be charitable on that point.
Regarding all the new debt the government is adding, will it be repaid before interest rates rise?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, as I said in my speech last week, we are extending the maturities of our debt to lock in current interest rates, which are at a 100-year low, our debt service charges.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
That is perfect, Mr. Chair.
What percentage of the new debt the government has added since March has been locked in for more than five years?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
As I said, Mr. Chair, I am going to be offering detailed projections and numbers in my economic update later on this fall, not tonight, but I will cite the—
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
As I said, Mr. Chair, the finance minister's numbers on these issues are very sensitive and I am not going to—
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Chair, it is actually not sensitive at all. It is published by the Bank of Canada. If the minister had just gone to the Bank of Canada's website, she would know that less than 10% of the new debt the government has borrowed is locked in for more than five years. The other 91% is locked in for shorter terms.
Why did the minister tell people that she was locking in low rates when, in fact, 91% of the debt is on short-term maturities?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, we have a program, as I said last week, moving into longer-term debt instruments. This is to lock in current rates. That is exactly what we are doing right now.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Chair, it is exactly the opposite of what the minister is doing. I am surprised that she did not visit the Bank of Canada website where she could have found out that less than 10% of the new debt her government has issued since March is long term. The rest is short term. In fact, it is of shorter duration than our pre-existing debt. Why did the minister mislead an audience last week when she claimed she was locking in debt for the long run while Bank of Canada data shows precisely the opposite?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, our government and the Bank of Canada's debt-management program is second to none in the world. We are making a careful and thoughtful effort to lock in longer-term maturities and move to longer-term instruments. That is what we are doing. Instruments are maturing all the time and are being moved into longer-maturity, lower-interest-rate debt.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Chair, it is second to none in that it is the most expensive. Let us find out how expensive it is.
How much would it cost the government if there were a one-percentage-point increase in the effective rate of interest on our debt?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, I need to challenge the first comment the member opposite made. Canada's debt is not the most expensive.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Chair, the question was how much would a one-percentage-point increase cost the government in extra interest costs on the national debt? How much? I just want a number.
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, the member's assertion was that Canada's debt is the most expensive and that—