Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Brison. Indeed it would be possible to have a supplementary CPP plan that would be in addition to a PRPP structure. I think there are a number of things, though, that one would want to consider if they wanted to go in that direction. First of all, the existing CPP structure is not a defined contribution structure, so they would have to create an entire infrastructure in order to provide a defined contribution supplement to the existing system.

Finance committee  I think people would recognize there's a separation between their existing CPP structure and a PRPP, which is a defined contribution system. Also, I think people should reflect on the fact that if you look at the expected growth numbers of the CPPIB, we will be seeing, by 2040, a CPPIB that will have about $750 billion to invest.

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, members of the committee, I am very pleased to have the opportunity to be here today on behalf of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association. We welcome the opportunity to share our views with the committee as part of your pre-budget deliberations. The CLHIA is a voluntary organization whose member companies account for 99% of Canada's life and health insurance business.

Industry committee  Correct.

Industry committee  Thank you for the question. I think this is a very important issue for all financial services. It's very important that we get access to these markets, if we want our companies to have opportunities to expand, to operate effectively, and to be able to use that head office expertise I talked about earlier.

Industry committee  For us, obviously the United States is a very good market. The Manulife acquisition of John Hancock, for example, was significant. Sun Life and Great West Life both have major investments in the United States. Outside of the United States, the very large focus is on Asia, and both Manulife and Sun Life have very active, major operations in a number of countries in Asia.

Industry committee  On the insurance side, the tradition is, in each market, to have assets match liabilities on behalf of the policyholders in that location. Also, in the life insurance industry there's very little short-term paper that's purchased, because our liabilities tend to be long term. So with respect to the life insurance industry, I guess the quick answer would be that it shouldn't have any effect on the life insurance industry operating in Canada.

Industry committee  Yes. Obviously we need to ensure that we can be as efficient and effective as possible. I think some of the things we've talked about today are extremely important to ensure that, including an effective tax regime and ensuring that we have the proper training and education in place, but also of course there's the issue of regulatory overlap and burden.

Industry committee  It's the same for us.

Industry committee  I would support these comments and note that a number of our members are active in working with universities and colleges. I know of a program at George Brown specifically related to insurance administration. We're looking at other opportunities in community colleges across the country to support the development of training and education, so that we have the people we need in our industry.

Industry committee  In terms of the existing opportunities, in 1992 the government allowed cross-pillar activity, and we've seen that occur. Manulife, for example, owns a bank. All the major banks have insurance subsidiaries and are very active participants in the insurance business--life, property, and casualty.

Industry committee  Thank you. In the past there has been this thinking that services are secondary to manufacturing. I think that's very much old thinking, something that is buried in the 1950s and 1960s, frankly. The service industry is very much an industry in its own right. It's highly integrated.

Industry committee  As I noted, over 56% of the revenue of our industry comes from abroad, so it's vital to our industry, obviously. What that means for Canada clearly is head office jobs in Canada, the export of our expertise and knowledge, and the continued development in Canada of that expertise.

Industry committee  Indeed, the issue of providing advice to Canadians generally has become a much more complex area, and the agency function I think has become much more complicated than it was before, but obviously, in our view, the industry is certainly up to that challenge. We are increasingly involved in the business of wealth management as opposed to the traditional life insurance business, so our business has very much changed over the years, and that is reflected in what our agents provide to our customers.

Industry committee  It is very important for us to adopt industry regulation. We work with regulatory authorities in all the provinces and at the federal level to ensure that this regulation is useful and that it will work for both the industry and the general public. As for our relationship with the Quebec government, I'm going to ask my colleague to give you some explanation.