I think it is important to have a clear understanding of the various forecasts in the private sector.
Right now the Department of Finance takes an average of 20 private sector forecasts, and behind those forecasts there are some very different expectations around economic growth driven by many different factors--different expectations around what the dollar might be, where oil prices may be, some key assumptions for the economy that will have a huge impact, not only on the national economy but on the regional economy as well. A high dollar, a high oil price have a big impact, potentially, on Ontario and Quebec in particular.
So the work that we can do around working with private sector forecasters is to better understand what's behind their projections--information that is not made available in the budgets--so that you understand what's behind those projections.
Also, I think the role we could play is to take that information and put it in a fiscal context. What does it mean for the federal government going forward? How much fiscal flexibility does it have at its disposal in terms of bringing forth new measures? If we could bring that type of information forward in the fall in a timely way, we think it would help you understand, in a pre-budget consultation mode, what choices the government could be looking at. I think that would be useful.