Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, gentlemen. I'm pleased to meet you. I've often heard about the Conference Board, especially when I was dealing with oil. Let's say I haven't always been a believer, but I'm going to show some gratitude for the work you've done in Volume I. I admit I haven't read Volume II yet.
You mainly talk about natural resources. We had been promised a kind of summary in French. I read it in English, but I required help on certain aspects.
The international trade policy that Canada should adopt obviously concerns a number of virtually incalculable factors. Like some of my colleagues opposite, you advocate complete or nearly complete liberalization of markets, by eliminating supply management in Quebec, among other things, because you assume that certain protectionist measures here undermine the productivity of our manufacturers and so on.
So the four factors you mentioned earlier, productivity, a single Canadian market, trade policies versus investment and the aging population, are obviously based on productivity. We know this is an obligation, because we have to respond to quite fierce competition around the world in order to generate wealth.
I only want to make a brief digression and talk about the philosophy of progression, market development and economic growth versus demographic growth. I don't know what excuse is used to explain one or the other — demographic or economic growth. It's said that we lack people; we must make them, we must invent them. Is that in order to increase productivity or consumption? There will be limits at some point. There is China, whose population is 1.4 billion inhabitants, and there are other, small countries. So there's no comparison on consumption.
Today we're still aiming to increase wealth by increasing consumption, until we hit the wall. Technically, a number of countries have hit a wall, including Canada. It's said that the 1980s were harmful for productivity. Instead of replacing 100 employees with a modern robotic machine, we should have given one to each employee. Productivity might have increased as a result.
What actual recommendations are you making to the Canadian government? What path will it take so that Canada really becomes a competitor with time? If we die before we become productive, we won't be any further ahead. What do you recommend in the short term?