Finance Committee on Dec. 8th, 2020

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, the Bank of Canada is ably and independently run, and perhaps members of this committee would like to invite representatives of the bank to come and speak to the committee and answer your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you, Minister.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Who holds the shares in the Bank of Canada?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, I cannot emphasize too emphatically the importance that our government attaches and that I attach to the independence of the Bank of Canada and—

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair—

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

—I will always speak out against efforts to undermine that or cast doubt on the independence of this critical Canadian institution. Canadians trust the bank, and they're right to do so.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Go ahead on your point of order, Mr. Poilievre.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

This is eating into my time.

I have a simple three-second question: Who owns the shares in the Bank of Canada?

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

I do think that when we're talking about the Bank of Canada, sometimes we may have to be a little more thorough. I will tag the time onto the end of your time, Mr. Poilievre. I've been noting that as we go along—

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Thank you. Got it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

—but when we're talking about the Bank of Canada and its impact on the financial system, we have to be very careful.

The floor is yours.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

My question is, who owns the shares in the Bank of Canada?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

I thought the chair had turned the floor over to me, and I would simply like to endorse our chairman's comments that the independence of the bank is important.

I would urge members who wish to ask questions of the Bank of Canada to invite the very able leadership and representatives of the bank to this committee.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Who owns the shares in the Bank of Canada?

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

The floor is yours, Madam Minister.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, as all Canadians know, the Bank of Canada is a Canadian government institution. It is, however, an independent institution, and its independence was a very important innovation at the time. It is something that I as finance minister prize and respect, and I think that all MPs should do likewise.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Go ahead, Mr. Poilievre.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

It turns out that the Minister of Finance owns the shares in the Bank of Canada. It's right in the Bank of Canada Act. That's the law.

The bank is accountable to the people, as the minister has admitted. It's the people's money. They don't get to do with it whatever they want. I have asked four times. Where did our money go? The $180 million went into corporate bonds. Who got that money? The people deserve to know.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Madam Minister, the floor is yours.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, I didn't “admit” that the Bank of Canada was accountable to the people of Canada; I proudly stated it. I really cannot emphasize too strongly the importance of a respected and independent central bank to the functioning of our economy.

As a journalist, I had the privilege of quite often interviewing finance minister Jim Flaherty. I can tell you from personal experience that he respected the independence of the Bank of Canada. I would hope that today's Conservative Party would do the same.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Mr. Poilievre, this is your last question.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

The Bank of Canada, in addition to buying corporate bonds, which the minister wants to keep secret, is actually selling government bonds onto the market to raise debt for the government's spending and then buying those same bonds right back, sometimes within the same week—selling government bonds to investors and then buying them right back from those same investors, often at a loss.

Will the minister commit to reporting to Canadians how much they lost by selling government bonds to investors and buying those same bonds back, at a higher price and to the profit of private investors? Will she tell us how much taxpayers lost and rich investors gained, yes or no?

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Madam Minister, you have about 30 seconds to round out that round.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Okay.

Well, Mr. Chair, as I had to point out yet again that in question period, the member opposite and some of his colleagues seem to be making a habit of misconstruing my words.

In no way does the government seek to conceal or keep secret the activities of the Bank of Canada. The Bank of Canada is a highly transparent, highly responsible institution, and I have a question for the Conservative members. Do they respect the independence of the Bank of Canada as previous Conservative finance ministers like the late Jim Flaherty did? I hope they do. The Canadian economy depends on it.