Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
As chair of the board of CDIC I appreciate this opportunity to meet with you and members of the committee to discuss the role our crown corporation plays in enhancing credit availability and the stability of the Canadian financial system.
With me is Michèle Bourque, executive vice-president, insurance and risk assessment. Unfortunately, Guy Saint-Pierre, our president and CEO, is ill today, but I can assure you that Michèle is a very able substitute for him.
I appreciate that you have other witnesses today with whom you wish to have a dialogue, so I will keep my remarks brief.
As the members of the committee will know, in framing CDIC's statute, Parliament specifically mandated the corporation “to promote and otherwise contribute to the stability of the financial system in Canada”. I would suggest through another one of our objects, namely to provide insurance against the loss of part or all of deposits, we also contribute to enhancing credit availability.
As of April 30, 2008, we insured some $512 billion in deposits in 80 member institutions. Canadians are comforted by the existence of the insurance provided. Deposit insurance supports their willingness to place deposits with the banks, trust companies, and other entities comprising our membership. Those organizations in turn can mobilize the deposits entrusted to them to make credit available to a broad range of borrowers.
For Canadians to have the type of confidence that an effective deposit insurance scheme provides, they must first be aware of its existence. To help increase that level of awareness we have been pursuing a series of public information campaigns over recent years. Our strategy for this year includes a six-week national advertising campaign, delivered in concert with our partners at the AMF in Quebec, which is just now drawing to a close. I hope some of you have seen the television and print advertisements that form part of that campaign.
We have pursued similar campaigns during the RRSP season in prior years, which is a period when the general population tends to have a higher interest in such matters. But this year we plan to resume our publicity program again in the fall.
Judging by the extent of inquiries we have been receiving at our call centre and via our website, we know that Canadians have a heightened desire to know what is covered by deposit insurance and how it works. Although no CDIC member has failed in over 13 years, Canadians have observed media coverage of failures in other jurisdictions, including some where the existing deposit insurance schemes did not offer the type of comfort that we believe our approach here in Canada provides. This definitely raised anxieties in some, and it is an important part of our mandate to put to rest those types of unwarranted concerns.
Another way we contribute to the stability of the financial system is by being ready to act should the need arise. We have dealt with 43 failures since our creation in 1967. In the process we've protected $26 billion in deposits held by over two million Canadians. Throughout this, not one person lost one penny of insured deposits.
As an organization we focus on readiness. In cooperation with our federal partners--the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, the Bank of Canada, the Department of Finance, and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada--we monitor the health of our member institutions so we can be ready to take actions to intervene if we ever need to. I can state that the level of inter-agency coordination and information sharing in Canada is the envy of many other jurisdictions throughout the world.
Another aspect of readiness is ensuring that appropriate tools are available to CDIC to enable it to act effectively and efficiently should the need arise. In that regard Bill C-10, now before the Senate, contains several key measures related to CDIC's powers. These measures provide CDIC with greater flexibility and reflect best international practices, in keeping with Canada's commitment to the G-7 plan of action to stabilize financial markets and restore the flow of credit.
Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee, Michèle and I would be pleased to answer any questions you might have.
Thank you.