Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll be splitting my time with Mr. McTeague.
If I could, I'd like to ask both my questions and then have you answer, if that's possible.
We talked a lot about the manufacturing sector and the challenges in Quebec and Ontario. I'd like to speak a little bit about western Canada. What I'm hearing from people who are dealing in Alberta, for instance, is that their clients are down 15% right now. The oil industry, obviously, is very strong, but we're hearing that in fact the other industries are starting to feel the slowdown at this point.
First, could you tell me if my analysis is right and if what I'm hearing is right? Do you monitor this kind of thing? It would be very important to monitor it, because you could just assume that since the oil industry is going well, the whole province is doing well.
We're hearing the same thing in Manitoba, by the way. Some people who are in business in Manitoba are telling me that in the last four or five months there was a very definite slowdown. They're capping basements in Edmonton, I am told. They have built these foundations and there are no people to buy them, so they are capping them now for future use.
My second question is on labour productivity. We all know about this 26% gap with the States that is growing. When you're looking at your interest rate decisions, does that have an impact on Canadian productivity? Is this one of the issues you factor into your decisions? Hopefully it is something we will study here at this committee at one point. It is one of the most important factors in our economy, and I would like to dig down a little bit deeper.
Could you maybe answer those two questions?