Thank you. I
want to allow Mr. Kmiec to continue the line of questioning from the previous round, but before I split my time with him, I want to address or perhaps ask for clarification for Mr. Siddall. This is in response to one of Mr. Kmiec's questions on whether or not insurance premiums were set too high, given that you had excess capital. After many years of concern being expressed by the finance department about capital reserves and public risk in the insured mortgage business, CMHC in fact had excess capital to be paid back to the Crown. It seemed like you were trying to have it both ways.
If the premium was set correctly and the business cycle just happened to be positive—and you prepare for good times or bad—then it would seem that homebuyers are paying a tax when times are good. If times just turned out to be good and that meant you had excess capital that would be turned over to the Crown, how is that assessing the correct level of premium to account for good times or bad times?