Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to tell you how to commit the perfect crime, perhaps with the help of Bill C-52. Let's call it “How to Steal Billions in Six Minutes and Never Be Caught”.
If I were to rob a financial institution in Canada, I am subject to the penalties of the Criminal Code; I think everybody knows that. If a financial institution, however, robs Canadians using any one of a thousand methods that I witnessed while working for financial institutions, they are not even subject to the penalties in this proposed bill, as I read it. They fall under the Securities Act. Investment crime is more likely to fall under the protection—yes, I said “protection”—of securities commissions in 13 provinces and territories than to be prosecuted. Most of the time, independent police agencies are not even involved.
I worked in the financial industry for 20 years and I found it nearly impossible to hold a discussion about ethics and honest treatment of customers, so strong was the culture and addiction to sales, commissions, and bonuses. Most Canadians, however, are of a mistaken impression that our financial institutions are so trustworthy as to be above examination.
I would like to challenge this dangerous conventional wisdom, and I'll go so far as to call it a form of collective insanity.