Budget  Mr. Speaker, I keep hearing the same question, so I will give the same answer. It is the Conservatives who need to be clear with Canadians. Do they think we are spending too much or that we should be spending more? Canadians deserve a clear, straight answer.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, we are talking a lot about women, and since this is a question from the NDP and since I did mention my mother in my speech, I want to point out for the member opposite that she ran for the NDP in Edmonton—Strathcona, now an NDP seat. Therefore, we have more in common than he might think.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his questions. I would also like thank him for all the very interesting discussions we had when preparing the budget. I really appreciated it. First, I am very pleased that the member noted that we focused on fighting tax evasion. It is a priority for our government, especially during a pandemic, since social solidarity is very important.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I will start by thanking the member opposite for those generous congratulations. I think it would be appropriate for me today to think about Kim Campbell, the first woman prime minister of Canada, who was, of course, a Conservative woman prime minister. One thing we should agree on in this House is that all of us believe it is important to advance the cause of women in Canada.

The Budget  moved: That this House approve in general the budgetary policy of the government. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 83(1), I would like to table, in both official languages, the budget documents for 2021, including the notices of ways and means motions. The details of the measures are included in these documents.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-25, An Act to amend the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, to authorize certain payments to be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund and to amend another Act. (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. We went into the crisis on solid financial footing, and that enabled us to provide unprecedented support to Canadians. I am pleased to announce that the government will table its 2021 budget on April 19 at 4 p.m.

Small Business  Mr. Speaker, I share the hon. member's concern about Canadian small businesses. That is why I would like to urge him and all members opposite to join us in supporting Bill C-14. This is legislation that would help small businesses, and he does not need to listen to me. He can listen to Dan Kelly, who says, “Bill C-14 has some important measures for small business, including fresh funding for regional business support programs.

Small Business  Mr. Speaker, as I announced earlier today, we will be presenting our budget on April 19. However, I must take issue with the simply false notion that Bill C-14 does not include measures to support small businesses. It would provide the RDAs with an additional $206.7 million to replicate CEBA loan limits for gap-filling programs and RRRF gap-filling capacity.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, Canada entered the global pandemic in a strong fiscal position, which allowed our government to provide unprecedented support to Canadians. We will continue to do whatever it takes to support Canadians and Canadian businesses. We have a plan for jobs and robust growth.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, I welcome that question because it gives me an opportunity to share some good economic news with this House. Last week, ratings agency DBRS Morningstar reaffirmed Canada's AAA rating and wrote as follows: Canada’s AAA ratings are underpinned by the country’s considerable fundamental strengths, including its sound macroeconomic policy frameworks, large and diverse economy, and strong governing institutions.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, when the chips were down, our government was there for Canadians, and the results show it. Last week the IMF published estimates showing that without our government's economic response, real output would have declined by an additional 7.8 percentage points last year, and the unemployment rate would have been 3.2% higher.

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, a search of the records of the Department of Finance did not produce any results, as neither the department nor the Bank of Canada collects data regarding holdings of government bonds, either in general or by wealth quintiles.

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, the most recent projections for Government of Canada debt charges can be found in the fall economic statement 2020, which was released on November 30, 2020, and is available at https://www.budget.gc.ca/ fes-eea/2020/ home-accueil-en.html. Specifically, the projection for interest paid on the federal debt for the current and following five years can be found in Table A1.5 on page 126, in the row labelled “Public debt charges”.

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, the outstanding principal under loan guarantees issued by the government on the borrowings of third parties stood at $14.5 billion at December 31, 2019. At September 30, 2020, the date of the most recent finalized quarterly data available, the outstanding principal under loan guarantees totalled $15.8 billion.