Finance committee  Yes. If asked, I will serve. There is a process that is ongoing. I don't think it would be appropriate for me to start answering interview questions here when there is a separate process. Respectfully, yes, if asked, I'll serve, but I will leave it there.

Finance committee  As the governor indicated, this isn't tax per se, but there's an analog. Just as people try to arbitrage the global tax system, financial institutions may try to arbitrage the global regulatory framework. As the FSB includes 27 countries, there has been a robust commitment and co

Finance committee  The Red Seal program is a good example. So that is one area I would highlight. You mentioned the temporary foreign worker program. The government is reviewing it. It is designed to deal with temporary skill gaps, and the intention is to bring workers in to fill those gaps on a

Finance committee  I'll make a couple of points. First of all, it's worth underlining that the mobility of Canadian workers has improved quite markedly over the last decade. We have some research done at the Bank of Canada that shows this, and we can share it with the committee. This has noticeably

Finance committee  Thank you, yes. That is a good question. Up until now, the steps taken by the government, OSFI and by us, through our upward bias with respect to our interest rates, have, all together, succeeded in reducing the activity rate in the household sector and the credit growth rate. I

Finance committee  I can give a couple of quick numbers, if you want. Through the recession, Canada lost, on a proportionate basis, half as many jobs as the United States. We're more than 200% above where we were at the trough. The United States is less than 60%. So they haven't even regained all

Finance committee  Yes, it's really only Germany.

Finance committee  Yes, there were a little over 400,000 lost. We've regained all of those—

Finance committee  —and doubled.

Finance committee  To retrace a little bit what I said in that speech, and indeed what we've both been talking about on a number of occasions...being right beside the United States, historically, has been a wonderful thing. It has been one of the biggest and growing markets in the world. But the re

Finance committee  There are a few things. I think it starts with really recognizing that just waiting for the U.S. to come roaring back is not a great strategy. You're going to have to get out there more aggressively. We recognize that historically it's been very easy to do business with the Unite

Finance committee  It links to our commodity sector. There is a lot of technology, there is a lot of expertise, and there is a lot of design in commodities. It's something that we can leverage globally. There are a lot of commodities to be developed around the world.

Finance committee  I would maybe just add one thing a little more broadly on this issue of foreign workers.

Finance committee  Getting back to Mr. Jean's question, in the recession there were a lot of people out of work and it was really about finding jobs for people. As you look into the future, with declining labour force growth and with baby boomers who are retiring, increasingly the challenge is goin

Finance committee  I don't think that it is up to us to defend the private banks. They have their policies and I would encourage households to find the best options for their situation.