Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Robson, it's good to see you again. It's been some time. I've always appreciated your input and engagement in preparations of provincial and federal budgets and economic forecasts. You are always a great help.
I want to acknowledge some of what you said today in regard to the fiscal stimulus and the counter-cyclical engagement of the government fiscal plan when it is going through times of crisis like we did with regard to the pandemic and our ability to sustain some of our spending in order to make certain it's by way of investment, like infrastructure—I think you captured that very well—or capital engagement, to ensure that we attract investment and growth in business and enable economic vibrancy.
Some of that input, of course, is via provincial matters. The provinces play a role as well as the federal government. The federal government has done quite a bit, but at the same time the provincial governments, especially during the pandemic, cut back quite a bit to the point that even prior to the pandemic a number of those provinces had their current ratings reduced. Here we have a federal government with a strong credit rating, and it has continued to maintain it. Some provincial governments have gone forward, and some revenue cuts were made. I'm thinking of Ontario, particularly, which I was part of and which reduced its credit rating. Consequently, it's been downgraded.
Mr. Robson, before I get into my real question, which is something separate around the pension plan, can you just reaffirm the direction and the priority that you feel is important for us to continue? Should we continue to invest in infrastructure and capital investment and secure, as my colleague has mentioned, Canada as a top destination of foreign direct investment?