No doubt, capital spending is important. It's a determinant of long-term productivity. We have to have a competitive environment. I think that we've seen some of the challenges from jurisdictions like the U.S. that lowered corporate taxes. Canada is reasonably competitive in that regard; we're not that badly off there.
I think your fundamental question is right. Ultimately the standard of living of a country is the pie that we divide up. I'm fully sympathetic with the idea that, as we divide up that economic pie, we have to pay attention to how well the people at the bottom of the scale are doing. It's a very important feature. In fact, I think Canadians all agree on that.
Nevertheless, the size of the pie matters, too, and productivity is the key. We have a given population. Productivity is basically just the measure of how much we produce per hour or per person. That's the ultimate source of wealth in any country, so government programs and decisions that impinge on productivity are key.
I would broaden your question. It's not just about taxes. It's not that the lowest tax rate necessarily wins the day, because governments also provide infrastructure. They provide training. These are things that take tax money. It's a balancing act. The government has to have the right highways and roads to move our goods, for example. The governments have to have a good education system. They raise taxes to do that.
It is a balancing act. The full panoply of government decisions that affect output per person is really key to wealth when we think about the medium term.