Well, Mr. Paillé, if you want to talk back, I would point out that I had invited you to my office and asked if you had comments to make and whether you would contribute to this conversation. I'm still waiting for an answer, so if you'd show a little respect and if you have an answer, let's talk about it later on; otherwise, this is my opportunity to ask some questions.
All of the individuals here today at one point were under provincial jurisdiction, and I think that's something that isn't understood. Diane, I think you understand that, and Don, of course.
What Mr. St-Michel just said is very troubling, and what happened to him is absolutely wrong. That sort of thing shouldn't happen.
However, there is provincial jurisdiction and there is federal jurisdiction, and I think there is a lot of uncertainty. When it gets into a bankruptcy situation, it is a federal responsibility, and we've said that we're looking at that. The Minister of Industry is responsible for that and is taking a serious look at it. Believe me, the industry department is watching these hearings and listening to what you're saying, so we do appreciate your comments.
However, there have been some comments made. Ms. Urquhart, over a number of appearances, you have provided us with some good statistics and good comments, but I'm concerned about other comments made about this pension guarantee fund. At a previous appearance, we had Edward Whitehouse speaking to us, a pension expert with the OECD. When John McCallum asked him how good these pension guarantee funds were, Mr. Whitehouse's comment was, “I'm afraid that I don't think there is a good international example of one of these types of insurance funds”, and he went on to make other comments about these in the U.S. and U.K. They're not effective.
We want to find something that's effective. We saw what happened in Ontario. There was supposed to be one there. It's gone.
Do you have suggestions how we can build a better one than all of the other OECD countries have, and who have failed with theirs? Is that where we want to go? Give us some insight, please.