Thank you, Chair.
Thank you so much, Mr. Jacques, for being with us today and for stepping up in this new capacity. I'm wishing you well in your 166 days. That's a short amount of time to get a lot done, I know.
We've spoken a bit this morning about the uncertainty that I think is certainly felt in the economy right now and, I would say, particularly in light of the trade war, in both the U.S. and China, and the implications of that in our economy. We've heard repeatedly from our Prime Minister about the efforts to build Canada strong, to build the strongest economy in the G7, with really a focus on making the necessary investments in Canadians and our economy to be able to achieve that and to support us throughout these times.
You mentioned in one of your comments the key to our prosperity being, really, the size of the economy. As we move towards a budget shortly, I'm wondering what or how you believe the budget can contribute, first of all, to mitigating that uncertainty, and second, to growing the economy.