Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to begin by thanking the members of the Standing Finance Committee for inviting me to appear today. My name is Martin-Éric Tremblay and I am the Senior Vice-President of Insurance Operations for the Co-operators Group. With me is my colleague Frank Bomben, the Manager of Government Relations for the Co-operators Group.
The Co-operators is a group of companies focusing on insurance. It is 100% Canadian-owned. We have over 4,200 staff, and assets of over $6.5 billion. We protect approximately 850,000 homes, 1.1 million vehicles, and 560,000 lives. We provide coverage to 45,000 farms and 130,000 businesses.
For the past three years, the Co-operators has been listed among Canada's 50 best employers in the Report on Business Magazine, and it is listed among Canada's top hundred employers by Maclean's magazine.
The Co-operators Group is a federally regulated tier-three co-operative. Our members--that is, our co-operative owners--are 33 co-operatives, credit unions, and like-minded organizations, representing a combined membership of 4.5 million Canadians.
The Co-operators invests time and capital into developing co-operatives across Canada as well as into building social infrastructure that supports Canada's marginalized population.
My presentation today is timely because this is Cooperation Week in Canada. The theme of the current consultation process is Canada's place in a competitive world, so in the time I have been given I will tell you what we are doing to ensure that Canada becomes better positioned in an increasingly competitive world.
I would like to insist on the significant role the cooperative sector plays in Canada. This holds especially true for the economic competitiveness of the country and the welfare of its citizens. The cooperative sector plays a major role in the development of a long-term strategy aimed at strengthening the bonds which unite the various levels of government and the many cooperative businesses.
This year, our organization partnered with other Canadian cooperators to present three common recommendations to this committee. I will not go over all the issues raised in our document, since the representatives of the Canadian Co-operative Association have already presented the main elements a little earlier. However, I would like to draw your attention to the highlights of our presentation, as they constitute a response to the question of how Canada can maintain its competitive place in the world.
We would begin by recommending the creation of a new cooperative investment plan, followed by the establishment of a new partnership to strengthen cooperative businesses and, finally, the continuation of the implementation of the social economy initiative.
We are aware of the fact that the government has provisionally decided not to renew the social economy initiative. However, we respectfully ask Parliament to reconsider its intent, since we believe that this initiative is a productive way of investing public funds.
Our written submission also focused on another issue: sustainability. Cooperative principles naturally align with the concept of sustainability. Rather than existing for the purpose of amassing wealth for shareholders only, the cooperative understands the satisfaction of vital community needs as its raison d'être. The Co-operators believe that for Canada to maintain and cultivate its competitiveness in the global economy, the twin principles of financial strength and comprehensive sustainability must be enshrined as the keys to economic growth and social progress. In fact, the one hundred most sustainable public corporations outperformed their competitors on the Morgan Stanley Capital International index by 7% during the past five years.
In conclusion, failing to ensure sustainability is to fail our environment, our fellow citizens, this generation, and the next.
Again, I would like to thank you for inviting me to participate in this consultation process. I would be pleased to answer any questions you might have in the next few minutes.