The exchange fund account is the reserves of the Government of Canada. The bank acts as an agent for the Government of Canada in the management of those reserves. Those reserves have built up gradually in recent years. Part of the increase in reserves has been a result of some recent reforms to the IMF, the International Monetary Fund. Just for clarity in answering the question, I refer the committee to previous answers on the issue of the exchange.
For clarity in answering the question, in the case of intervention to slow the appreciation of the currency, it is not an issue of using reserves; it is an issue of adding to reserves. Intervention in that form would add to the reserves of the country, as opposed to using them. They're not bound by the level of those reserves.
That is no more than a direct factual response to the question.