Federal finance minister, Ralph Goodale, said today that Canada needs to improve its productivity to tackle the reality of an aging population.

In a speech to the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. Goodale said this will require, “the highest quality of human resources; increased capacity for innovation; efficient, transparent and predictable regulatory systems; fewer internal impediments to trade and commerce; competitive taxes; much improved public infrastructure; smart border crossings; and aggressive promotion of international trade and investment.”

“We are at work on all these files to build and bolster Canadian productivity,” he pledged.

“The current fiscal strength of the Government of Canada — carefully earned, step by step over the past decade — is an important asset which helps to maintain Canada’s credibility in global financial markets and keeps the national credit rating in good shape,” he noted.

Goodale suggested that Canadians strongly support fiscal responsibility, balanced budgets, sustained surpluses and prudent management. “They just want the assurance that we will not squander the excellent record Canada has worked so hard to earn over this past decade,” he concluded. “Canadians can have absolute confidence in that regard.”

“Similarly, Canadians in Quebec and across the country can be completely confident that their government in Ottawa will utilize the nation’s economic and fiscal strength — in a fair and balanced way — to keep Canada succeeding against the odds, and to maintain our ranking among the world’s very best.”