Finance committee  You have to use table 1 and table 2 in the document to compare the two annual levels of growth. We give more detail on the Canadian forecast, because we do a quarterly one in table 2. Those are on pages 10 and 22. We see Canadian productivity picking up over the forecast horizon.

Finance committee  There is, but we're out of time.

Finance committee  Thank you, sir. As far as the divergences amongst the regions at the global level are concerned, I would say, very quickly, that there is clearly a huge difference between the growth rate of emerging countries and that of the developed countries. That has been one of the problems with this global recovery.

Finance committee  Okay, I will—

Finance committee  I was not finished.

Finance committee  It is an 18-month commitment because of a very important mandate for our economy, for our financial system, and that is transitioning the OTC derivatives market to an official trading market, the central counterparty. It is a very complex operation that has to be performed. We have to get it done in 18 months.

Finance committee  —and he is serving our country.

Finance committee  Yes, but your question is not clear. If you feel that no one can work for the Government of Canada, for Canadian agencies, without then becoming... What should you do afterward?

Finance committee  Very quickly, we have conflict of interest regimes in place at the Bank of Canada; we have post-employment responsibilities that extend from those conflict of interest provisions. We are privileged to have somebody like Mr. Hodgson working under those conditions. I do not know what the individual is going to do 17 months from now when this work is finished.

Finance committee  The point in that response is that last week my colleague and I were trying to focus on what the core drivers of growth were over the course of the horizon. We expect that there will be an important adjustment in the third quarter on the housing side. It's a level adjustment. I'm not saying it's not important, but that's not something we see persisting all the way through the forecast horizon.

Finance committee  I am a bit disappointed by that question. Mr. Hodgson is an extraordinary banker. He wants to serve our country however he can. The Bank of Canada has special advisers to the governor positions. They are temporary positions, precisely for the purpose of recruiting a theorist—a professor, a businessman or a businesswoman—to work at the bank and help the bank to achieve specific goals.

Finance committee  If I may, because it is important—

Finance committee  Yes, absolutely. I'll answer very briefly, Chair, and perhaps members want to expand. The inflation control target agreement, as many members know, is a five-year agreement. It matures at the end of 2011 and is part of the preparation for discussions about whether the government should extend the agreement verbatim, effectively as is.

Finance committee  The dollar must remain high and have a strong effect on the growth rate in the economy. In those circumstances, we have options.

Finance committee  Thank you for your question. In fact, according to the bank, the risks are balanced. What we did with this projection is that we reduced our forecasts for the Canadian economy, and we reduced them significantly for the American economy. There has been a significant reduction in our growth projections in the interest of balancing the risks underlying this forecast.