Debates of June 10th, 2025

Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates (A), 2025-26

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Madam Chair, can the minister confirm today that when the budget comes out this fall, it will not be a dollar over that?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Madam Chair, I am happy to confirm what the member can read in “The Fiscal Monitor”. The number in “The Fiscal Monitor”, from April 2024 to March 2025, in terms of a budget deficit, is $43.2 billion.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Madam Chair, can the minister tell us how much his government will borrow to cover the debt for the new spending?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Madam Chair, the member would know that we are very fiscally prudent, and with our team, we are managing the finances of Canada in the way that we are bringing—

[The Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member has the floor.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Madam Chair, just giving the number, how much will the minister's government borrow this year on the debt?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Madam Chair, my colleague would be pleased, because I know he is a man who likes the numbers, to see that we have the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7, a great position—

[The Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member has the floor.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Madam Chair, Desjardins is predicting that the number could be $600 billion. What will that do to the debt interest cost? Will it go up, or down?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Madam Chair, again, the member will be very pleased to know that there are only two countries in the G7 that have a AAA credit rating and that Canada is one of them. He should be very proud of that.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Madam Chair, that was not my question. In the FES, the total debt shows as $1.27 trillion. That means the amount that is going to be borrowed will be half of the total debt that Canada has.

Can the minister confirm whether the debt interest costs in the budget will go up, or down?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Madam Chair, my colleague will be happy to learn that the public debt chart is a percentage of nominal GDP. If he looks at the last few years, more than a decade, he will see it is always around 1.5%. This is going to be—

[The Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member has the floor.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Madam Chair, this is not very hard. The minister can easily answer. Will debt interest costs this year go up, or down, from what was projected?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Madam Chair, the member would be pleased to see that in 2023-24, the percentage of the public debt chart, as a percentage of nominal GDP, was 1.8%. This is a great position to be in as a country—

[The Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member has the floor.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Madam Chair, obviously the number must be very bad, because the minister keeps avoiding answering a very simple question. The current Prime Minister is projected to spend more than Justin Trudeau did, by more than $225 billion over the next five years. How big will the debt servicing costs get, just the number?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Madam Chair, I hope that the member will have seen that this is a new government with a new Prime Minister: a government with ambition, a government that wants to build a Canada strong and a government that is going to build the infrastructure that is going to be needed to be resilient in the economy—

[The Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member has the floor.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Madam Chair, the Parliamentary Budget Officer is projecting that in year 2029-2030, the debt servicing costs will be $70 billion. Last year, the debt servicing was more than what goes to health care transfers to the provinces. Can the minister confirm whether, at $70 billion, that will be more, or less, than what gets transferred to the provinces in health care transfers?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Madam Chair, the member should take comfort in the fact that Canada has the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7 and has a AAA credit rating. Only Germany and Canada, of the G7 countries, have that rating, so it is a great position to be in.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Madam Chair, is it fair, according to the minister, that bankers and bondholders are getting more money than what goes to the provinces for health care transfers? Is that compassionate, according to the minister?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Madam Chair, my colleague will be pleased to see that in the estimates that we published, the Canada health transfer will increase by $2.6 billion. That is going to be important to support—

[The Deputy Chair, Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member has the floor for a very brief question.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Madam Chair, will the amount that goes to the provinces in health care transfers be more, or less, than the debt servicing costs next year?