On debts & deficits. (Executive Forum)

Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Mr. Taylor joined the Royal Bank of Canada there in 1949 and was subsequently promoted through the ranks, occupying various positions in both the domestic and international areas. In 1977, Mr. Taylor was made bead ?f the International Division, where he remained until 1983, when be became President and Chief Operating Officer, In June 1986, be was elected Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Committed to strengthening rapport and interaction between academia and business, Mr. Taylor was a founding director of the Corporate-Higher Ed cation Forum. He is a member o the Board of Trustees of Queen's University and a member of the advisory committee of the School of Business Administration at the University of Western Ontario.

Mr. Taylor is a director of several large Canadian firms and is a former Chairman of the Canadian Bankers Association.

Canadians are facing a national financial problem that threatens to compromise the economic performance of this country. Canada is $400 billion in debt. This debt cuts into our funding for social programs, limits our ability to react to regional and sectoral downturns, reduces the flow of funds to the provinces, and increases our dependence on foreign investors.

In any discussion of Canada's debt and deficit, the numbers seem so large as to be incomprehensible. Consider it this way: the national debt is $15,000 for every man, woman and child in the country, or $60,000 for a family of four. If you add the further $100 billion of provincial debt, the public debt of Canada is $500 billion, or nearly $80,000 for that same family of four. And Canada's debt is growing by more than $58,000 …