Mr. Chair, my amendment seeks to delete lines 9 to 12 on page 241, in order to allow the appointment of elected officials to the bank's board of directors. That would make the bank more accountable to Canadians.
It's a good thing for the public to have a seat on the board. That's what I want to see happen. At the very least, the public should have a representative on the board of directors, whether it be a member of civil society or a department official. The purpose of having that person there is to make sure that public money—in other words, the $35 billion being invested in this bank—is spent appropriately, in a manner that respects taxpayers' ability to pay and does not unduly favour private firms.
Canadians are used to paying their taxes every year. They all work hard to make ends meet and hand over a big chunk of their hard-earned money to the government. It goes without saying, then, that that money must be managed responsibly. Thirty-five billion dollars is a massive amount of public money, so the bank's board should have at least one person to represent the public's interests and ensure the appropriate scrutiny. Otherwise, the bank's entire board of directors and all of its officers are likely to be on the same team, so to speak, working to serve their own interests and line their own pockets, not the public's.
My amendment would correct that flaw.