Thank you for the question.
I would like to start by saying that you are right. Our economic situation is indeed more difficult because of the global situation and the weak growth of the American economy. That's why we need to make significant investments for Canada and Canadians.
Yesterday, we presented our long-term program. However, in our 2016 budget, we have already taken our first step toward helping Canadian families. That step was very important. Given their concerns, middle-class Canadians need to understand how growth will be positive for their families. That is why we decided to lower taxes on the middle class and create the Canada Child Benefit. In that way, people will be able to imagine a better future for their families than has been possible over the last ten years.
With regard to our long-term plan, we now know that it is very important to invest in our future. Canada has a good record thanks to initiatives that were taken during the 1990s and the very early 2000s. Our situation allows us to invest precisely because our debt to GDP ratio is lower than the other G7 countries. That is where our country is now. We know that investing in infrastructure is the best way to increase the economic impacts. These types of investments will create immediate growth and also make the economy more productive in the future.
That is why we have chosen, both now and in the future, to invest significantly in infrastructure. Moreover, we have decided to broaden the scope of our efforts by setting up a national infrastructure bank. The bank will allow pension funds and institutional investors to work with us to improve Canada's outlook for the future.