Public Accounts committee  This is what I was trying to touch on before. On the next page, page 36, you see the sum-total value of the assets in CPP and QPP as a percentage of GDP, which you see in parentheses as 15.9%, so roughly 16% of GDP. That's the raw magnitude, but it also gets at the kind of gymnastics that we go through with the IMF and other G7 countries to put these metrics on an internationally comparable basis.

Public Accounts committee  The government released its most recent fiscal plan in the context of the fall economic statement and how it intends to manage its budgetary balance and that accumulation over the medium term.

Public Accounts committee  As the interest rate goes higher, we pay more interest on our debt that we turn over. What the impact on the ratio itself would be depends at what pace the economy is growing. We expect the public debt charges-to-GDP ratio to tick up slightly because of the higher interest rate environment.

Public Accounts committee  If every other variable in the economy stayed the same, if you had higher interest rates and those interest rates fed through to debt charges, that GDP ratio would go up. There are lots of constant variables, but yes.

Public Accounts committee  I believe so.

Public Accounts committee  You hear the expression the “cleanest dirty shirt” in the world of debt-to-GDP ratios, because nobody likes public debt. But yes, you're right. We publish these in our budgets and fall updates in terms of Canada's G7 and G20 comparison around these types of debt metrics.

Public Accounts committee  This is a very generic way just to kind of stress test the financial statements. Obviously, if the economy grows or contracts, that's going to have direct impacts on tax collection and consumption, feeding through to personal and corporate income taxes, GST and other excise taxes.

Public Accounts committee  Again, I appreciate your question—

Public Accounts committee  Sorry for the pause there, Mr. McCauley. I appreciate the question. I'm sorry—I don't mean to cut into your time—but your question was...?

Public Accounts committee  That's a very direct question. I'll have to get back in writing, because I don't have the answer at my fingertips. I understand the question.

Public Accounts committee  I don't believe there were any losses last year, but for this year we're estimating around $1 billion in losses.

Public Accounts committee  Absolutely. We'll get back to you. The number you're perhaps thinking of is something accumulated over a longer time horizon, but just for this year, the 2022-23 year ending March 31, 2023, it is around $1 billion.

Public Accounts committee  We have a chart on that. We do very well. We're a G7 leader in terms of our debt in relation to the overall size of our economy. You can see an illustration of that in the chart on page 35.

Public Accounts committee  The EI insurance premium line reflects premiums paid by employers and employees on payroll deductions. The approximately $24 billion just reflects that income drawn into the EI account, which is consolidated with larger consolidated revenues. Is the EI account well positioned? I mean, the EI account is in deficit right now, so in that context, I would potentially question whether it's well positioned.

Public Accounts committee  It is a good reflection of a country's ability to repay its debt, to service its debt in relation to the size of its economy, so full stop on that. I think there is consensus that it's a good metric in terms of overall debt sustainability over the near term, and over the longer term from a fiscal sustainability perspective.