Finance committee  Thank you. My top recommendation would be to make sure that Canada's public debt-to-GDP ratio for all levels of government stays towards that of the better part of the pack of G7 countries so we have the room to cope with the fact that the private sector has record levels of indebtedness globally and over time.

Finance committee  I think, given that at the time the credit and financial markets generally were seizing up, at the beginning of the pandemic, getting out there and expanding the balance sheet, along with a lot of other central banks around the world, helped keep financial markets functioning. In the acute phase, if you like, of the pandemic, when there was a great deal of uncertainty, that was a fairly reasonable and rational response that worked in the financial crisis back in 2008-09 and certainly helped to unlock the financial markets when the pandemic first set in.

Finance committee  I certainly would. In general, given the amount of money that we, the population, entrust to our elected officials at whatever level of government, we are entitled to have an accounting of how it's being spent and an understanding of the reasons they made the choices that they did.

Finance committee  I am not an expert in this area, so I don't think I can give you a very well-informed opinion. I'll ask Jeremy if he can, but I certainly cannot.

Finance committee  One suggestion I would put on the table is that as much as possible, they should not only be accountable for what's going directly through their budget, but also be willing to explain on a more consolidated basis what's happening with respect to Crown corporations and other vehicles that exist, if you like, outside of the main budget.

Finance committee  Thank you very much. We promise that we will combine well within the five minutes. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. Thank you very much for your very kind invitation to join you today. As you will note from my bio, I have more than 35 years' experience in dealing with financial sector policy issues in Canada and abroad.