Government Operations committee  I'll ask Mark if he can answer your question.

Government Operations committee  It's clear that with temporary measures and an economy that's grinding to a screeching halt, spending has gone up, revenues have gone down, which leads to what we expect to be an unprecedented deficit. However, as the economy recovers and the measures that have been implemented as temporary are allowed to expire, we expect that, all other things being equal, the deficit should return to a much lower level, so a much smaller deficit.

Government Operations committee  Several parties submitted proposals to my office during the election, and a couple of these measures could easily...well, easily.... A couple of these measures could be implemented to at least eat into that chunk of money that evades tax authorities.

Government Operations committee  Well, if we were talking about revenue increases of such a magnitude, it would have a significant positive impact on the federal balance over a 10-year period. However, if these measures were to be put in place, they would have to be accompanied by very strict enforcement measures, because we all know that people with that amount of wealth also have access to avoidance measures that are perfectly legal—maybe not legitimate, but legal—and they also have access to very sophisticated tax arrangements and corporate structures that allow them to minimize the impact of these taxes.

Government Operations committee  It's—

Government Operations committee  I'll give you the short answer: no.

Government Operations committee  It would be a good idea, to the extent that the government would want the opinion of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who is an independent officer of Parliament. However, it might have to ignore that opinion. I must add that that is not part of my mandate. My mandate would have to be changed in order to allow me to do that freely.

Government Operations committee  It depends of course on the wishes or intentions of the government. One of the measures that could become permanent, since Canadians are very pleased with it, is the Canada emergency response benefit. It is much simpler to administer than the employment insurance program and easier to understand.

Government Operations committee  On the pro side, I would say that this measure is relatively simple to administer. In terms of disadvantages, however, since the benefits are not directly related to the level of earned income, and therefore are not modelled on earned income, it may be much more attractive for some individuals to remain on CERB for as long or as often as possible rather than work.

Government Operations committee  Yes, several models are possible and could increase incentives or reduce disincentives to work.

Government Operations committee  I don't see the current measures as a way to stimulate—

Government Operations committee  In my opinion, the current measures are designed to support businesses during the crisis rather than to stimulate economic activity, given that governments have closed whole sectors of the economy.

Government Operations committee  [Technical difficulty—Editor] sure. The measures put in place by the government so far, although I don't have the exact numbers off the top of my head...and it also depends on whether you include loans and loan guarantees or just fiscal spending. A deficit of 12% of GDP is slightly higher than several of our international peer countries, with whom we usually compare ourselves.

Government Operations committee  Sure. The fiscal position of Canada before the pandemic started was relatively sound, in the sense that our debt-to-GDP ratio was relatively low compared to other countries, at about 30%, which allowed the government to introduce fiscal measures as well as guarantee loans, as it has.

Government Operations committee  We don't know why.