The fact that we aim at the midpoint is of the essence, as I shall explain later. Through the past decade, and with two different governments, there has been increased shared appreciation among Canadian authorities of the important contribution that inflation control can make to good economic performance.
I want to underscore that, in a democratic society, it is essential that the central bank and the government share the ultimate objective of a well-functioning economy. And that they both take action, and work co-operatively, to contribute to that common goal - hence my repeated emphasis today on words like “shared” and “agreement”.