I want to comment on Mr. Lake's analysis of the banking system. He's quite right: it is strong, and that, as you know, is the result of successive Conservative and Liberal governments making sure that regulations were there to keep the industry strong, in fairness. We don't want any one particular government taking credit for that.
My question, directed perhaps to Mr. Hatch or to whoever feels qualified to answer it, is, have you read General Motors' actual restructuring plan?
Okay, you seem to have all read it.
Like Mr. Lake, I have people in my riding in Guelph who support under all circumstances the buoying up of the industry; others are not so inclined. For us to fully understand this, I need to understand what happens in a structured, protected restructuring—protected from creditors.
We're also talking about a lot of money here; we're talking about $7 billion to $10 billion dollars in loans. We can't trivialize that amount. What would happen to dealers and manufacturers if there were a structured, creditor-protected restructuring and the same amount or less money were applied to making sure that parts people were paid, to making sure that people who were unemployed were given the funds they require to survive? Can you look at that and tell us the difference between lending $7 billion to $10 billion out right now and having a structured, creditor-protected arrangement?