Mr. Speaker, like you and everybody else in the House, I am really eager to wrap up this debate, which is of concern to all our fellow citizens, since we are talking about the budget.
I am extremely disappointed by the budget brought down by the finance minister. He is known to be somewhat undemonstrative, with a lack of vision and imagination, as shown in previous budgets. What we did not know, however, was how little concern the Minister of Finance and his government had for social issues.
Mr. Speaker, you who are concerned with social justice, can you understand how this government, in a context of budget surplus, the first in a number of years, can give no thought to those people who are our society's most disadvantaged and who need the government's help?
I would have hoped to see much greater concern in this budget over the social role of the banks. I would like to give you an example of the situation in the United States since 1977, when the Democrats passed a certain bill. It certainly cannot be said that the United States does not foster freedom of enterprise. Well, since 1977, they have legislation that requires banks to become involved in underprivileged communities.
This legislation annually reviews a public report, which obviously receives a lot of attention from consumers. The report, released in June, evaluates the social behaviour of banks.
Is there one good reason why such legislation would not be well received in Canada? There is one: we need a government that has some backbone, that has vision and that can stand up to the financial world. We know that we are not talking about this kind of government.
Like you, Mr. Speaker, I am a great traveller and, undaunted by a challenge, I went to Washington three months ago. There I met members of the American Banking Association, businessmen and consumer groups and I was told about all the good this sort of legislation brought about.
I got the list of investments. If members want to obtain a copy, I would be delighted to circulate this list. Since 1977, American banks have invested $356 billion in local communities?
What did Canadian banks do? Throughout the world, conventional wisdom has it that Canada is the easiest country of all for banking. It is a well-known fact that Canada is a very well protected market for bankers.
What has happened in Canada? We have four major chartered banks which have made record profits. In 1994, profits stood at $4 billion, but they reached $7 billion last year, and there is no reason to believe this trend will abate. In this context of banks getting richer and richer, with our Canadian borders closed to foreign competitors, banks have resorted to the most drastic streamlining ever.
I remind the House that since 1991, banks have laid off one way or another 10,000 employees. In the next ten years, they are expected to lay off 35,000 more. All of this, when profits are at a record level and the return on common equity has never been so high.
Why should this Parliament remain indifferent and silent, callously silent, about the social role banks could play? In many communities experiencing a great deal of poverty and unemployment, where it would be important for the banks to get involved in the development of the local economy, banks are conspicuously absent.
Let us take the riding of Hochelaga—Maisonneuve, for example, which I believe you had the chance to visit recently, Mr. Speaker. The number of underprivileged people there is quite high. But I hasten to add that there is also an intense community involvement, so that for each of the existing problems, we have community resources to help individuals through their particular situations.
Seniors in my riding tell me that 20 years ago, we had about ten branches of the various chartered banks. Believe it or not, no more than two are still there. They tell me that there are no banks in Saint-Henri any more. If it were not for institutions like the caisses populaires, it would be impossible for people to access basic financial services.
How can a Minister of Finance responsible for preparing a budget, one with any feelings, remain cruelly silent on the question of financial institutions? Are members aware that, across Canada, there are 600,000 Canadians who have no bank account, because the existing rules demand identity documents, and some branches even require them to have a job, and they therefore do not have access to basic financial services.
I believe that it must be made perfectly clear that the banks have acted like highwaymen, like Shylocks, like thieves, without any respect for consumers. In major cities, there are voices asking that we, the law makers, regardless of political affiliation, take action to get the banks to shape up.
I think that in the next few days, we could adopt a community investment bill, as they call it in the United States. We could give the Superintendent of Financial Institutions the mandate of assessing them on the basis of widely known and accepted criteria; this could be done in co-operation with community groups, representatives from the banking community and the private sector. Banks should have to account every year, in a report which would be made public, for their actions, investments and community involvement.
You know what I am like. I am certainly not someone who shrinks from political life. Faced with the problem of the banks, I introduced a private member's bill that, as luck would have it, is now before the House and should be debated in the coming days, probably in early April.
I call on the solidarity of all my colleagues. Can it be that, for once and for all in the House, we are going to ask the banks to behave like true corporate citizens with a stake in their community? It requires a certain amount of political courage. It requires that we work together.
I have not given up the hope of creating a coalition with a number of members to pressure this government to provide legislation such as they have in the United States.
Mr. Speaker, I need only your support now. I know you support such action, and I am sure that legislation of this kind ensuring social justice will, in the end, be passed in Canada.