Hon. Larry W. Smith: Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Senator Gold, in November 2020, with respect to Bill C-9, I asked Minister Freeland whether or not the government was using fiscal anchors or, as she put it, “guardrails” to guide spending decisions at that point and time.

The minister reiterated the fact that funding spent to fight the COVID-19 pandemic would be “limited and temporary.”

The question I ask this time around, since we are in version three and four of the COVID outbreak, is very simple: What fiscal anchors, if any, are being used to guide the government’s current spending decisions? Could you please provide us with specific examples?

Senator Smith: Senator Gold, during our Committee of the Whole deliberations yesterday with respect to Bill C-2, Minister Freeland highlighted that Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio, which is still forecasted to be 48% in 2021-22, is the lowest in the G7. However, CPA Canada, in a recent statement, made it clear that it recommended “the government replace the debt-to-GDP target with a ‘fiscal anchor framework’.”

A fiscal framework would move beyond the simplistic ratio and pursue a series of metrics which would provide a more complete picture of the health of the economy, but also instill confidence in both households and businesses that the government is addressing its large deficits and levels of indebtedness.

Senator Gold, why won’t your government move away from the debt-to-GDP metric and implement a series of fiscal anchors which will provide more enhanced measures of accountability but also provide some sense of certainty for businesses and consumers?