Mr. Speaker, in an effort to be transparent, the 2022 fall economic statement, FES, included provisions for anticipated funding pressures of a sensitive, pending, or uncertain nature. This includes but is not limited to amounts subject to negotiation, like contracts or litigation, as well as anticipated pressures that were expected to materialize in the near term, when developing the fall economic statement 2022, such as funding for the Indo-Pacific strategy and the national adaptation strategy, and biodiversity funding announced during COP15.
The $14.2-billion figure that the Parliamentary Budget Officer is referring to is the sum of two items in the 2022 fall economic statement, which can be found at https://www.budget.canada.ca/fes-eea/2022/report-rapport/FES-EEA-2022-en.pdf. An $8.5-billion provision, over six years, for anticipated near-term pressures is shown on page 17 of the statement, and the total net fiscal impact of non-announced measures, which is $5.7 billion over six years, is reported on page 66 of the statement.
The $8.5-billion provision for anticipated near-term pressures is a provision for possible decisions the government would take in the near term following the fall economic statement. For further clarity, it is not a prudence provision for economic risk. The government reports on the creation or use of provisions in budgets and updates.
For non-announced measures, the $5.7-billion total reflects the aggregate fiscal impact of items that were deemed confidential at the time of print and could not be publicly disclosed. These may include, for example, funding decisions associated with national security, commercial sensitivity, contract negotiations and litigation issues.