I've been at times unimpressed with some of his interest rate decisions, but today's speech on the financial crisis builds on his strength, namely, his knowledge of financial markets. It's worth reading in its entirety, but this paragraph in particular jumped out at me:
Canadian institutions are in considerably better shape than their
international peers. Their losses on structured products have been
relatively modest.
More importantly, their absolute leverage is markedly lower. As a
simple illustration, major Canadian banks have an average
asset-to-capital multiple of 18. The comparable figure for U.S.
investment banks is over 25, for European banks is in the 30s, and for
some major global banks is over 40. While foreign banks are in the process of moving towards Canadian
levels, our banks obviously face no such pressures. Indeed, Canadian
banks could modestly increase leverage by growing their lending
relative to their current capital base.
international peers. Their losses on structured products have been
relatively modest.
More importantly, their absolute leverage is markedly lower. As a
simple illustration, major Canadian banks have an average
asset-to-capital multiple of 18. The comparable figure for U.S.
investment banks is over 25, for European banks is in the 30s, and for
some major global banks is over 40. While foreign banks are in the process of moving towards Canadian
levels, our banks obviously face no such pressures. Indeed, Canadian
banks could modestly increase leverage by growing their lending
relative to their current capital base.
This may explain those rumours of Canadian banks circling around the wounded US financial sector.
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
Does Dion know about this?