Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
My question is for Mr. Monk. In your presentation, you said that Canadian productivity levels were disastrous compared to those of the United States, among others. You said that the average annual productivity growth rate in Canada has only been 1%, whereas it's been more than 2.5% in the United States. The critical ingredients of productivity are human capital, physical capital and innovation. To my knowledge, the education level in Canada is higher than that in the United States. As to innovation, I'm having difficulty finding a comparison that proves that they innovate more in the United States than in Canada or Quebec. The same is true for physical capital. I find it hard to believe this kind of study.
My question is simple. How can you draw a comparison between what's going on in Quebec or Canada and what's happening in the United States and manage to say that the United States has much better performance than Canada? This kind of study raises questions in my mind. For years now, we've heard it said that Canadians and Quebeckers are less productive than Americans or than other countries. I would like a clear answer on this point. Where does the difference come from? In your opinion, what are its causes?