Central to our forecast in the July MPR, and an element of the forecast that still very much holds, is the idea that we expected a rotation in demand from the public sector to the private sector and from the housing sector to business investment during the period from the recession through to the initial recovery. Then one of the biggest question marks has been how the export sector would fare in a challenging global environment.
Consistent with the announced fiscal plans of the federal and provincial governments, we expected the contribution of government, which was very significant and helpful during the depths of the recession, to fall. That is what's happening, and it's entirely appropriate.
On the issue on investment, there is no question in our opinion that the private sector will need to sustain investment. In aggregate, we're still lagging behind where investment would be in a recovery. We expect it to continue to grow strongly. We do need to grow productivity, and that's central for the private sector.
Government can help with strategic investment. Those are decisions for governments, but government can also help by creating an environment that facilitates such private investment, including using foreign capital as effectively as possible for longer-term private investment that will not just have impacts on productivity but also help build export capacity in this country.