Thank you, Chair.
It's great to be here in Montreal.
I want to thank all of the witnesses for appearing here today. My question is for the Conseil du patronat du Québec.
My colleague, Mr. Jean, alluded to the Forbes article yesterday, and I'm just going to quote from that:
Canada ranks No. 1 in our annual look at the Best Countries for Business. While the U.S. is paralyzed by fears of a double-dip recession and Europe struggles with sovereign debt issues, Canada's economy has held up better than most. ....Canada skirted the banking meltdown that plagued the U.S. and Europe. ....Canada is the only country that ranks in the top 20 in the 10 metrics that we considered to determine the Best Countries for Business.
Clearly, Canada has been doing something right over the last five years. I want you to comment on that.
I also want you to comment on some of the suggestions that we need to raise taxes, that when it comes to the economic action plan we've been following for the last number of years, the whole baby should be thrown out with the bath water, and we should choose another course, a course of high taxes and government spending.
Based on your earlier comments, would you think that is a good thing or a bad thing?