Thank you, Mr. McCallum.
I'm going to take the next round as the chair.
First of all, Mr. Page, I want to thank you for all your work for this committee, and especially, as we're doing our pre-budget consultations, your work on the fiscal situation as we move forward. It's a very sobering outlook in terms of projected deficits, but it is, I think, a very good background for us as committee members as we deliberate over the recommendations we have been given.
As you might suspect, we've been given very few recommendations on how to reduce spending, but quite a few in terms of increasing spending, so it will make our decisions much more difficult.
I do, though, want to address your point on the output gap. You make a statement that “the level of real output compared to its potential indicates that the depth of the weakness in the Canadian economy is more severe than [in] the recession of the 1990s and similar to the recession experienced in the early 1980s”.
Could you expand on that? My recollection in terms of the unemployment rate and interest rates is that the perception is that the recession experience of the 1980s was much harder on the Canadian economy and on Canadian individuals and families. So could you expand in terms of comparing those two recessionary periods? Also, if you wanted to give more background on the output gap, I'd appreciate that.