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On Thursday morning Stephen Poloz declared himself optimistic about the future, despite the deluge of bad news raining down on the Canadian economy.

“Overall, we can still be positive about the future,” the Bank of Canada governor said, after delivering a breakfast speech in Ottawa.

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What remains to be seen is whether he is a prudent optimist who has taken his raincoat or whether he, and the rest of us, are destined for another good soaking.

Poloz’s speech was a series of observations about the fallout of unpredictable economic events. It might have been subtitled, Stuff Happens.

“There’s nothing a policy-maker can do about the price of oil. The adjustments thrown up by that fall have to happen. You can use policy to cushion the blow, and exchange rates buffer the impact. But the loss of income has to be adjusted to,” he said.

His argument that we are not headed down Fury Road, towards a meltdown as apocalyptic as something out of Mad Max, received a boost earlier this week when trade numbers for November indicated that at long last, the lower dollar may be helping exporters.