Government Operations committee  The government recently gave the Royal Canadian Mint order-in-council approval to produce a coin that would have a legal tender value of $1 million. I'm going to be a little vague here, because my marketing people want to keep it as a surprise when we unveil what this is going to look like.

Government Operations committee  You'll need to bring your strongest son with you to carry it. It will be about 100 kilograms in weight, so it will be over 3,000 ounces. If you do the math, at today's gold price the value of the gold alone will be in excess of $2 million. So it will have a face value of $1 million, but we're not going to sell it for $1 million; we'll sell it at a price that reflects the value of the gold and a profit for the mint.

Government Operations committee  I don't think so. In New Zealand--and Australia got rid of their penny as well--they still price things in the stores at $1.99. You take all your purchases to the cashier, they add them up, and maybe it comes to $58.62. If you pay with a credit card you get charged $58.62. If you pay cash and there's no penny, both of those countries have legislation that has established rounding rules.

Government Operations committee  Yes.

Government Operations committee  Globalization is a factor, that's true. It's very important to cut costs in both the private and public sectors. As regards India, we only produce Thai currency there.

Government Operations committee  We were not going to move the core of our business outside of Canada. We're staying here. The Tennessee plant simply enables us to increase our production potential for multi-ply steel blanks.

Government Operations committee  Briefly put, yes. I think there are a lot of opportunities in that area because our costs are lower. Our patent is also a positive factor.

Government Operations committee  I believe the laws are very strict in the United States. Only Americans can produce their...

Government Operations committee  Sometimes. Sometimes I'm just there for show. I feel like a politician--no offence.

Government Operations committee  We can. One general comment I will make is that some of the big growth in revenues is in bullion, and there the margins are very low. They are a maximum of 3%. To the extent that the revenue growth is from bullion, it will drive down those percentages. It doesn't necessarily represent a general problem, it just represents a shift in the source of revenues from one area to more bullion.

Government Operations committee  No, I am not trying to say that at all. It is still positive. It simply is the fact that the bullion market is processing large, high volumes of gold or silver, and you don't make an awful lot of margin on it. In some of our other businesses--foreign circulation--the margins are greater.

Government Operations committee  We are going to be tabling our corporate plan on March 23, and it will be available then.

Government Operations committee  Yes, you are quite right. I end up having to go to some of these places, because the customer wants to see the CEO, wants to be satisfied that the Mint is taking them seriously, that there is a real dedication to the product, to the contract. I don't go to every place, no.

Government Operations committee  It isn't a plant of the Royal Canadian Mint; it's simply a Tennessee plant that produces multi-plated steel product for us.

Government Operations committee  There are three ways the Government of Canada benefits. One is seigniorage. By keeping our costs down, when we produce a nickel for our customer, the Department of Finance, to the extent that we can produce it more cheaply, allows for there to be greater seigniorage. When we sell it to the banks, we charge them a full nickel; we don't give them any discounts.