Industry committee  Our industry is less an exporter of jobs to other countries. The way we do provide jobs is that successful Canadian companies tend to follow their insurer. If they expand abroad, it's often their Canadian insurance partner that insures them in these other countries and makes sure they can grow there.

Industry committee  I wonder if I could just add to that. We often refer to the property and casualty insurance industry as the oxygen of the economy, because virtually no business in Canada could operate without having the ability to insure itself against risks that would be far too large for any business to undertake.

Industry committee  I'll answer your question, with your permission, madam. Yesterday, it was my pleasure to have lunch with Jean St-Gelais, President of the Autorité des marchés financiers in Quebec. From what I've seen, Quebec probably has the best regulated system in Canada as regards the property and casualty insurance industry.

Industry committee  Insurance is a way of redistributing risk, madam. That doesn't mean that consumers bear no risk. For an insurance system to be reliable, it has to be simple enough to protect people. That doesn't mean that people can be completely careless. There has to be some acceptance of responsibility.

Industry committee  I'd like to say a couple of things. First of all, in response to the earlier discussion, fortunately we have a system that is partly self-regulating. I think a lot of businesses will take heart that if they are experiencing a bit of tightness on one side, they will know that commercial property and commercial liability insurance premiums have been declining consistently for the past three to three and a half years across Canada on average.

Industry committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for the invitation to appear before this committee. First of all, I want to congratulate you for undertaking this review of Canada's service sector. The service industries in Canada are a huge employer. The total service sector employment in Canada now ranks at about 78.6% of total employment.