Mr. Speaker, money laundering is indeed a major industry in Canada. According to police officers and experts in the field—and the member for Hochelaga—Maisonneuve can correct me if I am wrong—between $225 and $250 billion are laundered in Canada every year. It should come as no surprise that Canada is known internationally as a haven for money laundering.
As a Quebecker, this does not make me proud. We are working hard to achieve our goal but, for the time being, Quebec is still part of Canada. Every year, between $225 and $250 billion are laundered in our country. This bothers me a bit. We repeatedly asked this government to introduce legislation to make it harder to launder money in Canada, since it is done all too easily right now.
In its electoral platform, the Bloc Quebecois suggested a very simple idea which the government could implement immediately. It could even be implemented before we adjourn for the summer. Canada is about the only country in the world with bank notes of $1,000. No other country has $1,000 bills. Why not stop producing these $1,000 bank notes? Who in this House walks around with ten bills of $1,000 in his pockets?