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Eva, these figures are not implausible from what I'm seeing. We're not hearing about big job losses. Our auto plants are running well, with many of the top North American cars coming from Canuck factories, particularly in Ontario. Alberta is continuing strong. Retail sales, while not setting the world on fire, are holding well. I'm in the consumer electornics industry and sales of expensive LCD and plasma TV's are outpacing supply. There are some regional blips like my hometown (Chatham, Ontario) but the unemployment numbers generated are local and small in the greater scheme of things. Resource buisiness is good, and many are employed there. The numbers do seem a little high, but recall that we didn't surge as much as the U.S. did so the fallback is going to be less pronounced.

We have a low dollar which is certainly helping, but our trade surplus with The States dropped a bit in the past quater, but it's still at historically normal levels. We're getting some outsourcing business. Housing starts, especially in the Greater Toronto Region, are at record highs and have been for the past 2 years which drives so much other activity. We have a major shortage of construction employees, mainly in Ontario and again, Alberta.

How long this will last is of course anyones's guess. But at the present time things are good.

Short of wierd anomolies, we mirror U.S. economic performance pretty closely. No kidding, if Canada is seeing these numbers it's a good sign for the U.S. as we tend to behave in close correlation.

Hopefully we'll see results below the 49th parallel that will help President Bush in November. I'm confident this will be the case.

Cheers, eh!