Thank you, Chair.
I too want to add my thanks for your public service, Governor, but I also want to thank you for your personal decency over the number of years that I've been here, on both sides of the table. Your willingness to engage particularly those of us who are not formally trained in economics and try to explain to us some of the intricacies is much appreciated. I personally want to thank you for your efforts to help educate us all.
I want to go back to Mr. McCallum's question with respect to interest deductibility. What we have at the present time is a statement in the budget that says interest deductibility won't be allowed. We read in the press that the minister seems to be backing down on this rather blunt statement in the budget, and now, instead of having an immediate application, maybe he'll extend it over 10 years, or phase it in over 10 years. But it's kind of hard to see how the statement as recorded in the budget can actually be modified.
He has certainly caught an earful from the business press and he has certainly caught an earful from those of us who actually think about these issues. As you've rightly pointed out, this is an extremely delicate area. One can't just simply blunder into it and hope that, somehow or another, all the rest of the countries in the world will go along with us.
So I am encouraged by your remarks. What I'd like to hear is whether you think the minister's statement, the statement that he seems to want to prolong this process, is actually a viable solution or whether he should actually be going back to the drawing table and dealing with those abuses that would offend all of us.