Public Accounts committee  I can't argue with that, Mr. Chair—

Public Accounts committee  The government doesn't invest the money, that's the only—

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, absolutely. We do provide this as part of our debt management strategy. It is a very condensed document. The member to the chair's left was referencing this document. It does discuss exactly this kind of cost-risk dynamic and whether the government has it right. That

Public Accounts committee  I will say it's internally within the organization. Our internal audit operations would do an annual audit of our debt management strategy. We have international organizations, such as the OECD and IMF, which do an evaluation of our debt management strategy, if not an audit. Lik

Public Accounts committee  The buyers.

Public Accounts committee  Yes.

Public Accounts committee  No, I wouldn't say that. The lenders are diverse. There are obviously some lenders who have a lot of appetite at the short end of the curve because they want that one- or two-year term, but pension funds are dying for the long-term paper because they need to match their obligatio

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, I would respectfully say that I don't think it's just the more or less interest argument. I believe that at the long end of the curve, they need the appropriate durations to match against their own liabilities. This stakeholder group of the lenders is diverse across th

Public Accounts committee  Mr. Chair, I'll just say that our debt management strategy is included as part of the budget. It forms part of the budget in terms of how we'll finance our cash requirements for the year, so it is subject to some parliamentary scrutiny. I would just come back to say that the gov

Public Accounts committee  I think it's a valid question. I just don't have a very good answer here today in terms of—

Public Accounts committee  Absolutely.

Public Accounts committee  I don't think I have anything to add. I think it is a valid question about why we're borrowing more in the two-year tranche. My hypothesis is around liquidity and cost and risk dynamics against our entire $660-billion borrowing program. In terms of exactly how we're matching our

Public Accounts committee  Absolutely. I don't author the debt strategy, so I'm not super-intimate with the numbers you're referencing, but some principle is in play. I think the member is right: with, effectively, a yield curve that is flatter than at any time in history, why aren't we locking in at low

Public Accounts committee  We have to work with the Bank of Canada to ensure that.... Liquidity is important for us too, because there's a need for some price discovery. We need to know what creditors there are and what the price is for shorter-term yields. We need, then, to ensure the right kind of liquid

Public Accounts committee  It's difficult to answer that question. It's a $650-billion borrowing program, of which this current year deficit, projected to be in and around $30 billion, is just one part. It's difficult to say whether that deficit in particular is bought or paid for in any one particular per