Thank you very much. I'm pleased to respond.
We made significant commitments to Canadians to invest in order to grow our economy. We also told Canadians we would be prudent along the way. We recognize that in a volatile economy we need to ensure that Canadians understand that we are taking the appropriate measures to ensure that we have the fiscal capability to do what we've promised.
When we looked at the proposals from the private sector economists both in November and more recently in February, we recognized there was a high degree of volatility. We also saw that in each of the last five years, as I mentioned earlier, there was an overestimation of the rate of growth. Having looked at the volatility, especially around the price of oil, we believe it prudent to put in a risk adjustment that would allow us to start from what we think is the right place to make the investments Canadians expect us to make.
It is appropriate for us to be transparent in that. We've been absolutely transparent in that, and we are moving forward with the investments we need in order to build off what we think is the right approach.