moved:
Motion No. 11
That Bill C-15, in the Schedule, be amended by replacing line 26, on page 124, with the following:
"ment of foreign ex-".
Motion No. 12
That Bill C-15, in the Schedule, be amended by adding after line 30, on page 127, the following:
"(2.1) A directive may not be issued under this section in respect of a participating institution that is a member of a system for the clearing and settlement of securities transactions by clearing houses."
Motion No. 13
That Bill C-15, in the Schedule, be amended by adding after line 2, on page 136, the following:
"PART III CLEARING AND SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS FOR SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
Sections 1 to 23 apply to systems for the clearing and settlement of securities transactions and to clearing houses operating a clearing and settlement system to the extent that such clearing houses clear and settle payment obligations.
The powers provided for in this Act may be exercised, with respect to systems for the clearing and settlement of securities transactions or with respect to clearing houses operating a system for the clearing and settlement of security transactions, only for the purpose of monitoring the operation of the clearing and settlement of payment obligations or preventing systemic risks in respect of the clearing and settlement of payment obligations."
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to debate real amendments after having discussed a series of cosmetic amendments.
As I said in my first speech, this bill systematically infringes upon an exclusively provincial field of jurisdiction, securities. This field is strictly defined in the Canadian Constitution, in section 92.13, on property and civil rights in the province, and in section 92.16, which includes generally all matters of a merely local or private nature in the province. These things are under provincial jurisdiction.
We fought against the first bill, Bill C-100, because it was a deliberate attempt by the Liberal government to encroach upon a provincial field of jurisdiction, thus creating duplication and overlap. The three amendments we are proposing, whether the Reform Party likes it or not-and let us not forget that the Reform Party did not do its job during the last session, it did not examine and criticize Bill C-100-our three amendments pertain to the clearing system and the settlement of payments. Their aim is to stop the federal government from encroaching upon an exclusively provincial field of jurisdiction.
In other words, through these three amendments, we say as clearly and simply as we can in legal terms, that the federal government should mind its own business.
The first amendment strikes, in fact, the word "securities" from the original clause, so that federal jurisdiction does not extend to that provincial jurisdiction. The second amendment, Motion No. 12, seeks to exclude from the application of federal guidelines institutions participating in clearing houses for securities.
The first amendment takes away from the federal government the power to create a clearing house, and the second amendment takes away the power to regulate provincial clearing houses. This is exactly what we want, that is to remove from this bill any invasion of provincial jurisdiction.
The third amendment relates to the system for the clearing and settlement of securities. This amendment limits federal regulatory
power to payment settlement activities, as opposed to institutions that are likely to carry out such activities.
Furthermore, the federal government can take action only for reasons of management of systemic risks, as the Superintendent of Financial Institutions and the Minister of Finance claimed, and for no other reason. That is what we opposed from the beginning, when we argued against the bill. That is what has become of Bill C-15.
So, these are the amendments, and I would invite members of this House from the three parties to support these amendments that would be beneficial, in particular for federal-provincial relations.