Senator Marshall: Even that explanation was helpful, but I must tell you that this isn’t uncommon. Quite often, we can’t find large numbers and exactly what they’re representing in the budget. Another example would the growth fund, which is $15 billion.

Senator Marshall: Even that explanation was helpful, but I must tell you that this isn’t uncommon. Quite often, we can’t find large numbers and exactly what they’re representing in the budget. Another example would the growth fund, which is $15 billion.

Why is the government so secretive about providing fiscal information so that parliamentarians can follow the money? With the information they’re giving us now, it’s just not possible to follow the money.

Senator Batters: Hear, hear.

Hon. Elizabeth Marshall: My question is also for Senator Gold. My question relates to transparency, Senator Gold, because you and the government are always reminding us how transparent the government is.

Last week, the Parliamentary Budget Officer released his report on government support for the Volkswagen battery plant. He said that the agreement is going to cost around $16 billion over the life of the agreement, but the government says it’s going to cost around $13 billion, so I’ll work with the $13-billion figure.

The government has already said that the cost of the agreement has been fully accounted for, but I can’t find it in the government’s fiscal projections. I specifically asked the Parliamentary Budget Officer if he could tell me exactly where that money is, because $13 billion is a lot of money, and he couldn’t tell me.

I know that in the government’s fiscal projections, there are a lot of big numbers floating around with no details provided. However, the Parliamentary Budget Officer said there’s not enough information. He said you’ll never figure it out.

My question to you is this: Where in the fiscal projections are the $13 billion?