What do you say to your opponents who argue that it would be unfair for the government to authorize the mergers without allowing them to enjoy from the outset all of the advantages that the mergers would bring to you and that another approach should be taken, perhaps legislative changes respecting the ownership regime, to give those banks that do not wish to merge and other financial sector players an opportunity to forge strategic alliances and establish multi-sectoral holdings, not only to offset the resulting higher concentration in the industry, but also to ensure that there are not just two major players in the financial sector to c ...[+++]onfront globalization and a more liberal financial services sector over the next ten years? What do you say to them when they argue that it would be better to have seven or eight players on the Canadian market to maintain a certain acceptable level of domestic competition to better serve consumers and meet the challenges of global competition?

Given what you've said about the harmony between a facility for a good monetary policy and a banking system, if we were to in fact make changes that would open up the competition to near banks, to credit unions, to foreign banks, and a whole bunch of new players who haven't operated at the major leagues before, would that affect your comfort level with respect to being able to do your job?