Senator Gignac: Senator Gold, according to National Bank economists, Canada’s monetary policy is the most restrictive of the G7. At his last appearance before the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Commerce and the Economy, David Dodge, former Governor of the Bank of Canada, said that the government would be well advised to adopt fiscal anchors to support monetary policy.

Can you reassure the Senate that your government is going to submit a responsible fiscal framework before moving ahead with the New Democratic Party shopping list?

Hon. Clément Gignac: Senator Gold, I would like to talk about fiscal discipline.

Most experts agree that your government did the right thing at the beginning of the pandemic by injecting tens of billions of dollars into the economy to avoid an economic depression. However, those same experts also think that this was made possible by the fiscal discipline of previous governments, which resulted in Canada having a AAA credit rating and a 30% debt load.

At the beginning of the summer, the International Monetary Fund, the IMF, issued its report and recommended that the government adopt fiscal anchors, noting that good intentions to reduce the deficit in the medium term were not enough.

Senator Gold, the government will be presenting its fall economic statement in the coming weeks. Does the Minister of Finance intend to consider the IMF’s recommendations?