Mr. Speaker, I monitored the work of the Senate committee which studied deposit insurance in the collapse of Confederation Life.
In commenting on the white paper tabled on February 9 by the Secretary of State for International Financial Institutions, I
believe the secretary of state missed a great opportunity by not recommending some minor form of co-insurance in relation to deposit insurance.
It is vital that discipline be brought to Canada's financial institutions, but discipline must start with the consumer. If the minister had seized this opportunity, then discipline would begin with the consumer and flow through to the institution itself.
In relation to the changes suggested for life insurance companies I hope those who comment on this paper will ask this fundamental question: If the changes suggested were in place in 1990 would Confederation Life have gone bankrupt? It is against this question that the success or failure of these recommendations must be measured.