The expectation, I'm certain, in all of the discussions is that Canada is a free-trading nation and supports free movement of capital as well. If we were to try to control the level of our exchange rate, we would have to take a variety of steps and start to close what is one of the most open and effective, we would argue, capital markets and money markets in the world in order to be successful.
Then a series of regulations that would come into place and restrictions that would come into place there would be inconsistent with the overall move towards free markets. That's number one. Secondly, there would undoubtedly be a suspicion that we weren't trying to move the exchange rate to an equilibrium level but were trying to gain a competitive advantage by moving the exchange rate below an “equilibrium level”.
The exchange rate will find its equilibrium over time. There can be periods where it's persistently strong. That does take some adjustment. We are in a position right now in Canada where we know that we're not as productive as we could be and need to be. We know that we have to diversify our trade, as the trade agenda suggests.
Our suggestion is that we focus on the things we can control, which is the trade agenda, making the country more productive, as Monsieur Caron suggested. In that regard, a strong exchange rate is to our advantage, because we import most of our machinery, equipment, and ICT.