Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you so much, Governor Poloz and Deputy Governor Wilkins, for being here today. We hope your families are safe and healthy.
Thank you, Governor, for your service to our country. We've certainly appreciated you coming to the finance committee regularly over the years.
You have spelled out the supports that are going to the banking sector: flexibility on repo facilities, a record low overnight rate and a number of other measures that help us support the banking sector. Other central banks, such as the European Central Bank and the Bank of England, have imposed conditions around those supports, things such as ensuring that there are no executive bonuses, dividend payouts or stock buybacks. In Canada, we have yet to see those conditions.
I can tell you, having spoken yesterday with small businesses in my riding, many of them are absolutely up to their necks. They're very concerned about whether they will be able to get through the next few weeks. I have Canadians who are having difficulty putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their head. At the same time, despite the fact that many credit unions have reduced their rates to zero, as we've seen with Vancity on their credit cards and Community Savings on their lines of credit, the banks have not done this.
There have been marginal cuts at best in some of the facilities they offer to people who are in dire straits. On the mortgage deferrals, I've not yet had one person come to me to say that a mortgage deferral has been approved without interest, penalties and fees. Therefore, Canadians are struggling, and we're not seeing from the banking sector that shared contribution to get through the crisis.
Has the Bank of Canada had discussions around ensuring that the banks do their part in ensuring that Canadians get through this crisis with no one and no small business left behind? Should the federal government be using its tools with the banking sector to ensure that they follow best practices such as Vancity and Community Savings are doing, credit unions that have provided significant supports for people in their communities? What would you say to my constituents who are struggling right now and ending up much more deeply in debt because their mortgage deferral comes with penalties, fees and increasing interest on top of interest so that they are really struggling, and will struggle even more coming out of this crisis?