david longworth : promoting canada's economic and financial wellbeing remarks by mr david longworth, deputy governor of the bank of canada, to the greater summerside chamber of commerce, summerside, prince edward island, 23 september 2009. * * * good morning. it's a pleasure to be here. i'd like to thank the greater summerside chamber of commerce for hosting this event. in addition to michael o'brien, the bank of canada's director for prince edward island, i'm here with allan paquet and david amirault, who are the bank's representatives in the atlantic provinces for, respectively, currency and economics. allan and david are the bank's eyes and ears for this region, and they help us to keep on top of various currency and economic developments. for example, david has been monitoring how the global recession and price movements have been affecting pei industries such as the fishery and tourism. i'd like to take this opportunity today to describe the bank of canada's work in very general terms. until recently, some people were given to thinking that central banking is – what shall i say? – a staid business. but the past two years have proven to be extremely interesting, not only for us at the bank of canada, but for all our central bank colleagues around the world. the bank's mandate is to promote canada's economic and financial well - being. clearly, this is an important mandate, and we are determined to demonstrate excellence as we work to fulfill it. we conduct leading - edge research and analysis, and, in doing so, we aim to be " second to none " among the world's central banks. to fulfill our mandate, we work in four main areas of responsibility : currency, funds management, financial system, and monetary policy. for each of these areas, the bank's approach is much the same. first, we have a clear objective. second, we tend to take a longer - term view of things. third, we make ourselves accountable by being transparent about the tools we use, the actions we take, and the outcomes of our actions. and, finally, we keep the big picture in mind. in my remarks today, i'll talk about each area of responsibility, with particular emphasis on the last two – financial system and monetary policy. currency bank notes are the bank's most tangible product, and, despite the prevalence of credit and debit cards and other

paul jenkins : impact of exchange rate movements on the canadian economy opening statement by mr paul jenkins, senior deputy governor of the bank of canada, to the house of commons standing committee on industry, science and technology, ottawa, 30 january 2008. * * * thanks very much, mr. chairman. i'm pleased to be here with you today and hope to help your committee as it examines the impact of exchange rate movements on the canadian economy. with me is john murray, who was recently appointed as a deputy governor and member of the bank of canada's governing council. to begin, as a little background i would like to quickly review the framework within which we conduct canada's monetary policy. the bank of canada act calls on us to mitigate " fluctuations in the general level of production, trade, prices and employment, so far as may be possible within the scope of monetary action, and generally to promote the economic and financial welfare of canada. " over time, we have learned that the best way to fulfill this mandate is to keep inflation low, stable, and predictable. specifically, that means we aim to keep the annual rate of inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, at 2 per cent. to keep inflation on target, we aim for a balance between total demand and total supply in the economy. by maintaining low and stable inflation, our monetary policy helps to keep the economy operating at full capacity and promotes greater stability in economic output. this is crucial in helping the economy to adjust to changing economic circumstances. now, what does all of this have to do with the exchange rate? well, the exchange rate of the canadian dollar is a key element of our monetary policy framework. without a floating exchange rate, we would not have the ability to conduct an independent monetary policy appropriate to our domestic situation. this means that we do not have a target for the canadian dollar. but the exchange rate is an important relative price in our economy and we pay very close attention to its movements. movements in the exchange rate influence the levels of imports and exports, which can help to keep total demand and supply in balance, and have a direct influence on price levels in our economy. further, exchange rate movements act as a signal to shift resources into sectors where demand is strongest. our floating exchange rate helps to facilitate that process. that said, we recognize that these types of adjustment can be, and have been, difficult for some sectors and regions of the country. when the canadian dollar rises or falls