Mr. Speaker, it seems the government wants to give the big banks lots of time to do their lobbying to soften people's views on this issue.
A Wall Street Journal analysis found that small business lending declined in U.S. banks which merged but went up with the non-merged competitors in the same period. In Canada small business lending is dropping and our banks have not even merged yet.
Will the government join with the CFIB and the four opposition parties in support of my motion this afternoon for all-party hearings at the industry committee into the impact of the proposed bank mergers on small business consumers and rural Canada?