Finance committee  Yes, I think that certainly there's an issue of what is the current structure for provincial health care costs going forward. Can they maintain the current low growth rates that we've seen in recent years? If you look over the long-term trends, you're probably talking about gro

Finance committee  That's correct.

Finance committee  It was just a few years ago when the previous government had a debt-to-GDP and net debt-to-GDP target, or accumulated debt target, of 25% in 2011 and 2012. Now we're dealing with a net debt-to-GDP of about 34%. Now we're talking about trying to get back because of the recession,

Finance committee  I certainly think there is a risk that without a lot of transparency on where those cuts are taking place, we could be kicking the can down the road in terms of future spending pressures. I think the government, the public service, should be providing those five-year spending pla

Finance committee  Very quickly, I think balanced budget legislation, perhaps in the context of a country that's experiencing very high debt relative to GDP.... We don't have that. We had that in the 1990s. I think “normal” times to economists means when the economy's operating at its potential, an

Finance committee  Thank you. Mr. Chair, I think the way economists tend to look at austerity is very similar to the mirror image of the way we looked at stimulus. In the case of stimulus, when the government implemented a very large stimulus package in 2009 they used economic analysis, effectivel

Finance committee  Thank you, Chair, Vice-Chairs, and members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. It is an honour to be with you today. I would like to make some brief remarks with respect to long-term fiscal sustainability, balanced budget legislation, and productivity trends.