Finance committee  On behalf of Mr. Macklem, myself, and previous governors, senior deputy governors, I want to underscore how valuable these meetings are for the bank. As I said at the start, this is an essential part of our accountability to Parliament, our accountability to Canadians. We greatly

Finance committee  Thank you very much.

Finance committee  The GPT would be a unilateral reduction of Canadian tariffs for those countries that are vested under it, whereas NAFTA, the free trade agreement before NAFTA, potentially a European free trade agreement, as examples, would be reciprocal.

Finance committee  Absolutely.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  What was that about not answering loaded questions? Obviously, we don't have a view about the specific issue that members are debating. From a monetary policy perspective, adjustments in tariff rates, whether they're up or down, in a regime such as Canada where there's a credibl

Finance committee  That could be the case, but I'm not following the details of the debate. I understand what you're saying, but I'm not....

Finance committee  I'll speak in a general way. Free trade agreements are reciprocal. Tariff policy, absent multilateral agreements, which are also reciprocal in their overall design, is unilateral. There are sometimes arguments for what you're saying, as there are sometimes arguments on the other

Finance committee  First, our analysis has been that Canada has benefited tremendously from the agreements you referenced. NAFTA is one example. Second, as Mr. Macklem just highlighted, there is a broader need for Canadian exporters to diversify internationally in an aggressive trade strategy, wh

Finance committee  That is a good question. I will start to answer and I will then let Mr. Macklem continue. The cost of obtaining a university degree in Canada is about 40%. The average in OECD countries is approximately 50%. So that is one aspect of this issue, the skills, the mismatch which c

Finance committee  Let me say a few things. It's a very important question. Let's be upfront about sequestration. The idea behind sequestration was to create a series of cuts that were so foolish that they would cause U.S. authorities to come to a sensible budget agreement. Well, they didn't come

Finance committee  Yes, I wanted to point out that this situation is difficult here, in Canada, and in the other advanced economies. There is indeed a problem with defined benefits. Companies need to save and invest money in pension funds. Companies cannot invest in their own businesses. Obviously,

Finance committee  That is a very sensitive issue. As far as the Bank of Canada is concerned, under the current system, we work very closely with the provincial authorities, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, the Federal Department of Finance and all of the other agencies

Finance committee  Within the energy complex as a whole, without question Canada needs to develop additional transportation infrastructure. I'll leave it for others to make the judgment about different sectors of the economy.

Finance committee  Yes, it is an important issue. As you know, a number of levels of government and private sector entities are seized of this, to the benefit of all.