and inflation around its 2 percent target. just as a healthy, fit individual is more likely to shake off a covid - 19 infection, a healthy economy is more likely to recover quickly from a major negative shock. third, canada has enjoyed considerable success in keeping inflation close to target for more than 25 years. this means that investors, firms and households expect that the bank will act to help return the economy to capacity and bring about stable, 2 percent inflation. the bank ’ s recent actions should be seen in exactly that light. in recent weeks, governing council lowered our policy interest rate three times to 0. 25 percent, which we consider to be its effective lower bound. these moves were based on analysis of the factors we could measure immediately — mainly the likely fallout on the economy from the collapse in oil prices, as well as the immediate effects of measures to contain the novel coronavirus. this preliminary analysis indicated that cutting rates all the way to the effective lower bound was the best contribution the bank could make to stabilizing the economy and complementing the government ’ s efforts. looking ahead, the outlook is highly conditional on how long the containment measures remain in place, and how households and firms adapt. governing council agreed that it would be false precision to offer its usual specific forecast. instead, we chose to offer two plausible illustrative 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches scenarios for the economy — one should be thought of as a “ best case ” given where we find ourselves today, while the other is a much more severe scenario. many possible outcomes lie between these scenarios, but based on the bank ’ s new analysis, governing council concluded that substantial monetary stimulus needed to be in place to lay the foundation for the postcontainment economic recovery. for the bank ’ s policy actions to reach companies and households and foster a robust recovery, it is crucial that financial markets function well. in the past few days, governing council ’ s deliberations focused mainly on what additional actions the bank could take to achieve this goal. there has been some improvement in market functioning. but important strains continue, and governing council acknowledged that near - term borrowing requirements of governments and the private sector are likely to pose further challenges. we decided to increase the bank ’ s participation in the government ’ s treasury bill auctions to 40 percent of each new issue, and to underscore that our program of purchasing at least $ 5 billion per week of government of canada bonds in the secondary market could be increased at

made positive steps forward — here i ’ m thinking about joint initiatives we ’ ve taken with indigenous partners to identify barriers to economic inclusion, and some education and capacity building we ’ ve embarked upon together. now it ’ s time to broaden our engagement and reflect on what we can and should do. we know we have more to learn. and we know that there are many other voices that need to be heard — including those of you gathering with us today and tomorrow. so we ’ ll take the best of the growth and learnings from our recent efforts. and we ’ ll ask our partners to walk alongside us as we take the next steps in our journey. together, we ’ ll define what reconciliation means for the work of the bank of canada — toward a more inclusive and prosperous economy for everyone. conclusion 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches as i wrap up my remarks, i want to leave you with some inspiration to guide us over the next two days. and i can ’ t say it any better than this quote from elder commanda ’ s grandfather, william — who was also an elder. he said : “ we must come together with one heart, one mind, one love and one determination. ” i invite you to keep this vision top of mind as we work together to reshape our relationship with indigenous peoples and foster inclusive growth and prosperity. we have much to learn from each other. i am grateful to all our presenters, discussants and participants. and i am confident that, guided by your insight and wisdom as well as the collective spirit of collaboration, this gathering will be an important building block toward better understanding, better operations and better policies. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches