Mr. Rob Wright:

No, I am not advocating that.

However, I would say that post-crisis in Canada it had huge implications for Canada as well. I had a very strong department to help me through that - some of the best economists in Canada, a number of them, to talk through key issues. One of the things I am proudest of concerns the processes in that Department, and they existed before I arrived but I hope they may be a little more reinforced. There are 750 people in the Department of Finance. This was one of the biggest and most important budgets we had put together. We did it on a very short timeframe for a great Minister who was the leading candidate through this. Every one of those 750 people were connected to those outcomes. They knew what we were doing, knew their role in it, and were actively engaged.

That connection to the policy agenda, and the objectives of the Secretary General and the Minister, had to be substantially strengthened. I think it is. I think what has been accomplished in the last couple of years has been tremendous. I saw the Minister briefly yesterday. To repatriate economic sovereignty is pretty big. To see the progress that is being made in the economy here is pretty big.

I think the Department feels a part of that, very strongly, and they are more connected to it throughout. At that time, however, there really was not the sort of connection I would like to have seen. That led to a whole set of advice on how to strengthen the communication and connection within the Department.

I did not think that senior managers were on a leash. I think they would have given advice and do give advice. I thought they should have given more advice in writing. I thought they should have taken more initiative. In Canada, and I would say in Australia or the Dutch finance department, if there was any - and this is term I have used directly with the Secretaries General here - issue that affects the economy or the fiscal standing of Canada, the Minister for Finance is going to get a view from the department. If it is in somebody else's turf and they have already made a decision, it does not matter. That is the ambition they have to have. They have to have the capacity to do that.

That is where this Minister expects them to be as well, so I am pleased to see that progress. At that time, I can understand a comment like that but it would not necessarily be that that was what was happening. It is that they did not know what was happening. It could be a mixture of both. They were professional public servants who were giving advice, but I thought it should have been more rigorous. That was a very fair observation but beyond that I would not have thought it fair.