Speeches and appearances

For more than 70 years now, the Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs has been bringing Canadians together with the purpose of asking some thought-provoking questions and encouraging lively, stimulating debates and action on a variety of key public policy issues.

Today, we released our Update to the April Monetary Policy Report. The Update reviews economic and financial trends in the context of Canada's inflation-control strategy.

It's been a year since I last spoke in Halifax, and a lot has changed since then. We've witnessed some extraordinary events, both in Canada and around the world. On the whole, Canada's economy has withstood the turmoil quite well. The impact of some more recent events is not yet clear.

I want to talk to you about the Canadian economy - how it has evolved over the past few months and what are the prospects ahead. In doing so, I will review the economic forecast from our latest Monetary Policy Report, which we published in April. Then I will talk about what has changed since that time.

Our statistical needs are fundamentally shaped by what we are expected to do under our mandate. The primary goal of most central banks today is to conduct monetary policy so as to achieve and maintain price stability. Low, stable, and predictable inflation is the means to our ultimate objective of solid economic performance over time.