Mr. Speaker, let me be the first to formally congratulate my colleague on becoming the first female finance minister to table a federal budget in this House. I will add that it is a remarkable accomplishment. It is long overdue, and I believe it defines a new role model for Canadian women across our country to aspire to. I send my congratulations to the minister.
I note the Prime Minister's mandate letter to the minister, dated January 15, called for her to present a “new fiscal anchor” to guide her work. The budget fails to do that. Instead, it contains vague references to a declining debt-to-GDP ratio starting two years from now. It turns out that was the Liberal government's old fiscal anchor, so there is nothing new about this one. In fact, her anchor does not even include measurable targets that would give Canadians the comfort of knowing their government understands the importance of proper debt management. All we have are references to the trajectory of the debt-to-GDP anchor.
My question is this: Why did the minister not deliver a new fiscal anchor the way the Prime Minister had directed her to do?