Poloz: Raising rates prematurely would cause a recession

Poloz in the audience Q&A

• Declines to comment on level or direction of interest rates
• We're in an era where we may see changes to trade agreements, including NAFTA
• "We can grow faster than the United States for awhile"

What he's saying is that Canada has a good deal of slack in the economy. So the BOC can let the economy grow at a faster pace to eat up that slack. The US, meanwhile, will need to hike to cool off growth or risk creating inflation, because there is less slack.