I've done this a few times here, but I want to start with a little bit of global context, if I could. There are several quotes from organizations around the world talking about the situation in Canada.
In the U.K., the Daily Telegraph in London has written:
Some will regard it as alarming that, in current times, world leadership should rest with Canada. But the Canadian Tories are a model of how to behave during a downturn.
They have kept spending in check and reduced taxes.
....If the rest of the world had comported itself with similar modesty and prudence, we might not be in this mess.
And The Economist in the U.K. states:
...in a sinking world, Canada is something of a cork.... The big worry is the fear that an American recession will drag Canada down with it. Mr. Harper says, rightly enough, that his government has taken prudent measures to help Canada weather a storm it cannot duck....
In the States you have The Wall Street Journal saying:
Canada is connected at the hip to the world's largest market, and collateral damage coming from the housing and financial meltdown in the U.S. can't be ducked. Tax cuts in 2007 softened the blow and kept Canada out of recession.
And Newsweek says:
If President Obama is looking for smart government, there is much he, and all of us, could learn from our...neighbor to the north.
There's more that I could read, but I won't.
There are other organizations, though, that have spoken about Canada's relative strength. Admittedly, we're going through a difficult time, and Canada is affected by that, but the World Economic Forum has ranked our banking system number one in the world. I think the U.S. is 40 and the U.K. is 44. The IMF and OECD have both talked about Canada coming out of the recession sooner and stronger than other countries—which is really important, of course. We're the only country in the G-8 that ran a surplus in each of the last three years; every other country in the G-8 ran deficits in each of the last three years.
So it's a very different circumstance here in Canada from that in other countries. I would think that yours is the very type of industry that would benefit from this stable, relatively strong environment, especially in the long term. Of course, we're going through a very difficult situation in the short term right now, but in the long term, Canada is positioned very, very well. How important is that for the long-term stability of your industry?