Mr. Speaker, the task force has not had a specific mandate to look at this merger. I believe that this merger would be a first step toward the sellout of Canadian financial institutions. The one thing that keeps the institutions Canadian is that the banks now are limited. There is a proposition where shareholders can only hold about 10% of every chartered bank. I want to know if the minister will guarantee to the House today that he will not give away the 10% provision that prevents a complete surrender of Canadian banks to foreign owners.
In the House of Commons on February 3rd, 1998. See this statement in context.