As Figure 14-13 shows, the portion of the Bank of Canada's assets made up of Canadian government treasury bills and bonds declined in late 2008. Go to www. statcan.gc.ca. Under "Search," click on "Specialized search tools" then click on "CANSIM." In the search line enter "Table 176-0010" and click on the search tab. This will provide you a table of the month-end assets and liabilities of the Bank of Canada for the most recent few months. To expand the view to time periods further into the past click on the "Add/Remove data" tab and follow the instructions.

a. Under the "Total assets" portion of the table, look in the "Total assets" row. What amount is displayed next to "Total assets"? What amount is displayed next to "Government of Canada, Treasury Bills"? What amount is displayed next to "Government of Canada, bonds"? What percent of the Bank of Canada's total assets are made up of Canadian government treasury bills? What percent are made up of Canadian government treasury bonds?

b. Do the Bank of Canada's assets consist primarily of Canadian government treasury securities, as they did in January 2007, the beginning of the graph in Figure 14-13, or does the Bank of Canada still own a large number of other assets, as it did in mid-2009, in the middle of the graph in Figure 14-13? In particular, does the Bank of Canada have a figure near zero in the asset rows entitled "Loans and receivables, advances to members of the Canadian Payments Association" and "Loans and receivables, securities purchased under resale agreements"? Or are these two figures a significant percentage of the Bank of Canada's total assets as they were in 2009 and much of 2010?