I guess my biggest thing was when they said that Canadians were serviced just fine with banking. We know that's not the case. In Newfoundland, 84% of the communities do not have a bank or credit union. They don't talk about what it's like for those rural Canadians to get to those banks. In one community, actually in Newfoundland and Labrador, in the winter they have to go by skidoo, which takes six hours to get to their bank; in the summer it's about a three-hour boat ride, or a $500 plane trip. That wasn't addressed.
Our stats show that 50% of the communities in Canada, 50% in each province, don't have a bank or credit union. That was really problematic and erroneous from our perspective, and a great concern, especially with the indigenous communities not being fully serviced. Well, 9% of the communities are being serviced, but that's it. I feel that should be part and parcel of the universal service obligation. Every Canadian should have a right to a bank account, and that certainly is not the case. We talked to folks who are 60 years of age and have never had a bank account in their lives.
It was unfortunate, I feel, that the task force committee did not look at our study, because our study was very extensive, and our expert was John Anderson from Anderson Consulting.