Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for appearing before this committee today.
I've found the last few months to be very troubling. I'm sure you share this concern. Bringing the economy back, helping Canadians to help themselves, is all about consumer confidence. I get very troubled when all we seem to hear is talking down the economy, talking up job losses, and that's not helpful. Yet we see such a contrast every time there's an international meeting.
I know you've been spending quite a bit of time outside the country, and I would guess it's partly as an adviser, because everything we hear—whether it's the IMF or the G20 or the G7 or the G8, which you just returned from—is that they speak glowingly about Canada's position, both the position going into this and the position we'll take coming out of this worldwide recession. As you repeated before, we'll have the lowest marginal effective tax rate by 2012. Even I heard, when I was at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, that everyone was looking to Canada enviously, as you have said before in your discussions with Geithner and Lagarde and Darling.
Can you share with us some of what you're hearing from the outside, possibly to share with Canadians? Are these countries seeking advice from you as to how we've handled it, or are they simply wondering what we have done differently in this country? Would you share some of your experiences from outside the country, please?