Part of the problem is that increasingly as a society we're transferring more and more responsibility to Canadians for their financial decisions. They're planning for their retirement, paying for their kids' education, and managing their debt, yet at the same time we didn't do anything particular through our education system to prepare Canadians for the responsibilities that they're increasingly having to assume. We're paying a price for that now.
I'm pleased to say Manitoba has just agreed to collaborate with us to integrate compulsory economic and financial education into their core curriculum. We're in discussions with Ontario right now to do the same. We're hoping to have discussions with other provinces. So increasingly, there's a chance to build for the future.
Right now, one of the things the U.K. is doing is setting up a national network of what they're calling “financial guidance”--non-profit guidance that British people can go to and get help from in understanding their financial affairs before they go to commercial companies for their financial products. To my mind, there are many Canadians out there who are desperately trying to understand the financial products being offered to them in increasingly complicated language. As well, the products are becoming more complicated. Even Tony Fell and Ed Clark, from the TV, have admitted that they haven't been able to understand some of the products that have come their way and they therefore haven't offered them to clients. That's part of the challenge we face.