Madam Speaker, I would like to speak in favour of the opportunity for provinces to have access. I think previous members speaking in opposition to this do not realize that economic indicators are major cycles. Some day their riding or their province may realize a downturn, something that Hong Kong, Taiwan or Korea as state nations in the Pacific Rim are realizing. Their national interests have closed the door on them to be able to build much needed infrastructures like schools, hospitals, water and sewer facilities for the health and well-being of their communities.
All these major needs are prevalent in my region. I look at a region in northern Saskatchewan. We do not have big banks. We cannot walk down the street, then play golf with the local banker and hopefully get a few million dollars to build our next major infrastructure to create an economic cycle.
We still have the remnants of the Hudson's Bay Company. They took the profits and left nothing. There is no Hudson's Bay hospital, school or highway. These guys took the profits and ran.
Here a government finally has a fund that is available from our pensions and then members want to close the door to allowing us to access our own investment for our children, our communities and for the betterment of our entire country. They are willing to close this door without knowing what our economic future is going to be like.
We are speaking on behalf of people who are aware, people who are at the poverty level, the unemployed and the people who do not have huge bank accounts. We do not even have major banks in some of these regions. Having a bank teller is basically a way of accessing one's bank account. However, if one has nothing to put in it then one is in trouble.
Territorial governments have been borrowing from the provinces. They do not seem to have access to this investment fund unless the provinces do it on their behalf. The government is closing the door on the whole territorial region that is at the developmental stage. Some of these regions that the hon. members who are speaking represent have had their opportunity for development and now they are closing it on the underprivileged or underdeveloped areas of this country.
I carefully ask for the government to take its time on this whole issue of investment of pension funds and access by provincial governments at a federal rate as opposed to a marketable rate. If a province's rating by Moody's has been classified high the interest rate will be high. We may run into trouble in the future and maybe our grandchildren will run into trouble in the future and the door has been closed.
I ask for support for this amendment to keep the opportunities for these provinces to have access if they need it. It does not necessarily mean they are always going to line up and take it away. If they need it, they will be able to ask for it.