Mr. Speaker, under the 1992 legislation there will be a review of the Bank Act in five years or in 1997.
I have received many calls and briefs from insurance companies in my riding of Lambton-Middlesex that are very concerned, as I am, about the potential changes in the Bank Act that could give the very powerful banking sector the ability to retail insurance from its branches.
While it is important to have a strong banking system in Canada, I do not believe it is right or fair to other sectors of the financial services industry to allow the most powerful sector, the banks, to accumulate strength which would likely turn into a virtual monopoly.
As a government we have already acknowledged that many of the new jobs created in Canada over the last couple of years have come from small and medium size businesses.
Allowing banks into the retail insurance industry could decimate small insurance companies in Canada, many of which are policyholder owned and predominately serve rural communities, like those in Lambton-Middlesex.