Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
It is with enormous pleasure that we welcome this very impressive group of quality people and decision‑makers in the Canadian financial and banking world.
Gentlemen, welcome to your House of Commons and to your Parliament.
We all know that we're facing climate change and that we need to act appropriately, effectively and practically if we're to succeed in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In the financial world, of course, you are at the heart of the decisions and at the heart of the opportunities. I'm talking about the opportunities to grow, but to grow by reducing pollution, and also the opportunities to reduce pollution through the approaches that every company can adopt.
My first question is for Mr. White.
Mr. White, let's take the case of an entrepreneur who knocks on your bank's door to borrow, say, $10 million to increase production. The company is doing well, but it doesn't necessarily have the best environmental record. Are you going to refuse a loan to this company that wants to expand? What will your response be to this entrepreneur?