Welcome, minister.
I'll stick to the Bank Act. I don't think the bill you've introduced contains any elements to which we object. These are very technical elements. Cheque imaging is an interesting thing for consumers and banking institutions.
However, I'm concerned by what isn't in the bill. The Bank Act is revised every five years. This was an opportunity to settle and decide a number of issues. Take insurance, for example. The banks want to sell insurance. They've proposed a compromise solution, as you know, but the insurance companies don't want that.
Why haven't you decided the matter? This issue will no doubt continue over the next five years.
There's also the issue of electronic payments, which are increasing in number. Debit cards are now more popular than cash. Here I have a document from the Canadian Consumer Initiative. That consists of six Canadian consumer associations. In Quebec, Option consommateurs, a consumer association, is requesting that a coherent, modern electronic payments structure be created, as the United States and the European Union have done. According to that association, the fact that the forms of protection are highly uneven and complex will ultimately cause problems for consumers. It's already causing some, but this might even put a brake on the development of electronic payments.
Why weren't these matters addressed in the context of the Bank Act review?