Thank you, Madam Chair.

I have to say that I find the member for Mirabel's position very surprising. I really didn't expect that, and I'm kind of confused. Will the government release a budget or not? I don't know. We'll have to wait until March 2026 to find out. I don't understand, but I'll respond to what Mr. Garon said.

I'll also comment on what Mr. Hallan added. He said that everything was some kind of ploy to try to hide a deficit.

However, the budget will be released on November 4.

I don't have any inside information at this time, but the deficit, whatever it may be, will be announced very clearly. Everyone will know what it is. We are not hiding anything. We may frame the deficit in a slightly different way, but that is all. We are not trying to hide anything.

Since returning to Parliament, my Conservative Party colleague has been saying the word “inflation” constantly in the House. He keeps saying that it's out of control, that prices are rising, and so on. However, Statistics Canada's report on the August inflation rate came out yesterday, and the published rate is 1.9%. That means we're back within the Bank of Canada's target range of 1% to 3%. The bank's official target was 2%. We're at 1.9%.

So why are people saying that we've lost control and inflation is a huge problem? I think there's some confusion. Our colleague from Mirabel is well aware that inflation is the rate at which prices are rising.

After three years of post-pandemic inflation, the price level is obviously very high, but this year, in 2025, price growth remains within the range that was desired, desirable, and set by the Bank of Canada.

In fact, just today, the Bank of Canada lowered interest rates because inflation is no longer a problem. That's why I was so surprised to hear people insist that inflation is out of control, because it isn't.

Our colleague also said that interest payments on the debt were appalling.

It goes without saying that, when debt increases, interest payments increase slightly. However, interest rates remain under control. As the Prime Minister said this afternoon in the House, interest rates in Canada are even lower than in the United States, which means that the financial markets still have complete confidence in Canada's ability to manage its public debt.

Furthermore, in terms of debt servicing, the interest rates we pay are among the best in the world. I would also add that, as of now, debt servicing in Canada as a percentage of GDP is well within the range established for countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the OECD. If I remember correctly, I think interest payments account for about 3% of GDP.

In the 1990s, Canada had a major problem with fiscal policy and public debt management. At that time, I believe interest payments on the public debt were 6% or maybe even close to 7% of GDP. That was enormous. It was a serious problem.

That's not at all the situation we're in. The circumstances are not the same at all. There's no financial crisis. I know that our colleagues, especially the Conservatives, like talking about a devastating crisis, but everyone knows that someone much wiser than me once said that everything that's exaggerated ends up being insignificant. I think our Conservative colleagues have been exaggerating quite a bit lately.

Let's get back to what the member for Mirabel said. I was really surprised, and I'd like him to be a bit clearer. What would he have us do? We're going to release a budget on November 4. Should we do nothing and consult nobody? People went to the trouble of sending submissions and telling us what they think. My colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and National Revenue, the minister himself, several other ministers and I have also held pre-budget consultations. We have met with all kinds of groups from Quebec and elsewhere. We would like to continue the process. We still have time. We still have almost a month and a half.

Anyway, I find it very surprising that people are now forgetting all about the 2025 budget and trying to figure out when the 2026 budget will come out. It might be in February. It might be in March. I don't know. It might be in April. I have no idea. Obviously the minister will table a budget in 2026. I know that for sure. As to the date, it is up to the government and the minister to select the appropriate date. We talked about an unusual, anomalous situation, and that is the kind of situation we're in right now.

The Canadian economy is slowing down, and that's because of tremendous uncertainty caused by our neighbour, the U.S. government, and its tariffs, its conflicts and its assault on global trade, which it is destroying. Nothing has been left untouched.

Given this tremendous uncertainty, I think it was entirely justifiable and, I would argue, responsible, to wait as long as possible before releasing a budget. Had we rushed to table a budget in June, I think that would have been irresponsible because we didn't have all the information we needed. We have a little more information now. We have a somewhat better understanding of where we stand. Where we stand is not a good place. Our neighbour is unpredictable. It has clearly stated that it wants to bring all industrial production back into the United States. That means we have to protect our companies and our workers. We have to invest heavily in our economy to reduce our dependence on our American neighbours.

The budget will be released soon, in November. Many of the measures in the budget have already been announced, of course. We'll table a proper financial framework. After that, we'll start talking about the 2026 budget. Why are people talking about the 2026 budget before the 2025 budget has even been released? That's what I find a little odd about our colleague from Mirabel's proposal, and that is why, Madam Chair, as my colleague said, we cannot support it.

Carlos Leitão

Transcript

Discussions (0)