Okay.
One of the factors that has been important is the distribution system in Canada. MPs are probably more familiar than anybody with the breadth of the country and how spread out the major retail centres and smaller retail centres are in Canada. The ability to have concentrated distribution hubs that cover that breadth mean that on the margin the so-called economies of scale are not as big in Canada as they are in the United States.
The second factor is that our businesses use relatively more labour, and on balance that increases the cost; it's less productive, effectively. I should say as well that the Canadian retail sector, from a retail productivity perspective, is a fraction of the U.S. retail sector. Mr. Macklem can confirm this, but I think 70% is the level.
So we would expect to see over time, with greater competition, improvement in retail productivity. That creates opportunity for individuals to work in some of the higher-paying, higher-skilled jobs that Mr. Jean was talking about. These are some of the factors that we think will persist.