On the debt issue—and we put a chart specifically in the second report, at page 62, showing the relative deficit and net debt positions of the G7 countries—Canada is ahead of all the G7 countries. There are staggering levels of deficit in the United States, to which Mr. McCallum fondly referred earlier. We're looking at a deficit in the United States this year of almost 14% of GDP. The Canadian deficit, even with our one-time spending in the auto sector and increased employment insurance, will be about 3.3% of GDP. This is a staggering difference. Germany is higher, Italy is higher, as are France, the United Kingdom, and Japan, and then the United States. The fact that we paid down about $40 billion worth of debt in the first three years of our mandate—mandates, I guess, with an election in there—is very significant because it gives us the fiscal room to move.
The World Bank president, Rob Zoellick, was here last week, and he said Canada is in an enviable position by global standards: “I think a lot of people would like to change places with Canada.” I was there when he said that. He said that at the Conférence de Montreal in front of a couple of thousand people from all over the world. This is the kind of credit our country is getting internationally because of the management we are exercising. People are surprised we're actually able to keep the deficit reined in as much as we've been able to, because they have not been able to do it in other jurisdictions.