Good afternoon. It’s a pleasure to be back at the Empire Club to deliver my first speech of the year. And what a year it’s shaping up to be. Last week, the Bank of Canada held its policy rate at 2¼%—and we had two key messages. First, our economic outlook has not changed much since last fall, but uncertainty around our forecast has increased. We continue to expect the Canadian economy to grow modestly and inflation to stay close to the 2% target. But geopolitical risks are heightened, and US trade policy remains unpredictable. Second, the Canadian economy is adjusting to US protectionism. Canadian businesses are ... (full story)