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Finance committee I wouldn't say there are any alarm bells, although it is a key risk to the economy, especially in the household sector. It's more, I think, from the perspective of, yes, household vulnerabilities, but our ability to smooth consumption in the face of what could be the next economi
February 3rd, 2020Committee meeting
Nicholas Leswick
Finance committee No, there are no recession doomsayers out there right now. As things go, it's very cyclical, depending on what's going on that day or week and on what the yield curve or labour market report is telling us, so we're always prepared for what could be an economic shock on the horizo
February 3rd, 2020Committee meeting
Nicholas Leswick
Finance committee As published last December, our federal debt-to-GDP ratio is 30.9%. I guess that was our forecasted debt-to-GDP ratio for the conclusion of this 2019-20 fiscal year.
February 3rd, 2020Committee meeting
Nicholas Leswick
Finance committee I don't know the number off the top of my head.
February 3rd, 2020Committee meeting
Nicholas Leswick
Finance committee I pride myself on being a numbers guy, so I don't want to throw out a number if I don't know it.
February 3rd, 2020Committee meeting
Nicholas Leswick
Finance committee Yes, we work with credit rating agencies to review our debt dynamics. We don't just talk about our own debt dynamics, but the debt loads that provincial governments are facing. I think everyone around the room knows that provinces are the most likely to face acute pressures over
February 3rd, 2020Committee meeting
Nicholas Leswick
Finance committee Go ahead, Andrew.
February 3rd, 2020Committee meeting
Nicholas Leswick
Finance committee Yes, sir.
February 3rd, 2020Committee meeting
Nicholas Leswick
Finance committee I don't want to speculate, and I certainly don't want to mislead you, so in terms of the overall program spending base in government, which is north of $350 billion, we're working through the government in terms of what would be the review base and how to go about that review.
February 3rd, 2020Committee meeting
Nicholas Leswick
Finance committee On the spending side, to be quite honest, we're still working through the details of that process in the review framework with the government. We anticipate that more details will be provided in the upcoming budget on how that will be undertaken.
February 3rd, 2020Committee meeting
Nicholas Leswick
Finance committee Mr. Chair, I'll invite my colleague Suzy McDonald back to the table.
February 3rd, 2020Committee meeting
Nicholas Leswick
Finance committee Firstly, I know that the associate minister has a thing or two to say about the definition of middle class, and I'm sure you'll have that discussion on Wednesday. From purely a bean-counter and statistical perspective, though, I can say that there is no common definition of “mid
February 3rd, 2020Committee meeting
Nicholas Leswick
Finance committee Mr. Chair, perhaps I could invite another official from the department.
February 3rd, 2020Committee meeting
Nicholas Leswick
Finance committee As a fact check on the first thing, you're right: it's to rise slightly between the 2018-19 fiscal year and the 2019-20 fiscal year. I can only restate what was in the government's platform, which is their commitment to reduce that debt-to-GDP ratio in each and every year. I thin
February 3rd, 2020Committee meeting
Nicholas Leswick
Finance committee You'd have to pose that to the associate minister. I think they are scheduled to appear before the committee on Wednesday, if I'm not mistaken. As published in the fall outlook, the update that was printed in December, that trajectory does decline in each and every year.
February 3rd, 2020Committee meeting
Nicholas Leswick