It’s a pleasure to participate in the C.D. Howe webcast today. I wish the circumstances were better. So much has happened so quickly. In the early days of March—just eight weeks ago—Canada had fewer than 30 COVID-19 cases and no community transmission. Now there are almost 60,000 cases. It will be a while before I forget where I was at the outset of all this: Baltimore at a G7 meeting of deputies from finance ministries and central banks. We discussed our growing concerns about what was to come for many people and practical ways that we could move quickly to cushion the blow while complementing each other’s actions. ... (full story)