Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I fundamentally agree with Mr. Laforest that we need to do this.
We've been talking about this before and during the meeting, and our apologies, Mr. Chair, for discussing it then.
But fundamentally, I'm concerned that this will have three committees studying the same thing. The optics of that, when Canadians are losing their jobs, I don't think are good.
I was of the understanding that the industry committee was willing to pass it back to us, but that it needed unanimous support. Now I understand they don't have unanimous support. Having said that, whether we deal with it today or not is irrelevant.
I would like to propose or suggest a friendly amendment to Mr. Laforest's motion. I'll read it into the record:
That the Finance Committee conduct a study of the credit card and debit card system in Canada consisting of at least (10) meetings to examine, but not limited to:
(a) Transaction fees imposed on merchants;
—as Mr. Laforest had referenced—
and
(b) Proposed changes to the credit card interchange fees and the debit payment system; and
report its observations and recommendations to the House.
I would put that forward—