Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. It is a good one.
The fact is that when the merger proposals were put forward, because of the government inaction in making changes that would allow more competition in the financial services sector, the Minister of Finance basically painted himself into a corner. Under the current regime the merger of the banks would have indeed created a lessening of competition because the Minister of Finance and Liberal government have not taken any steps since 1993 to allow the opportunity for more competition in the banking industry.
With this step, this very important but still small step, we will have foreign branch banking in Canada that will be able to compete head-on with the big banks for commercial business. It may fill a void. There may be some switching of business between domestic banks and new foreign banks. Yes, this is more competition indeed.
There are a few more steps, and this is a good one, that the government could take to increase competition. Then we should let those bank merger proposals come forward to be viewed in an entirely different light, in a more competitive environment.
The banking industry is going to go through a number of changes to compete in the global economy in the next few years. It has been doing it now, but there are some big changes to be made. One of those changes may very well be that our domestic banks will have to get together in some sort of marriage to take advantage of all the opportunities there are in the global economy.
Yes, this is a good step and it will create more competition, but there is more to be done. This government is the only thing standing between a fully competitive banking industry in Canada and what we have right now. It is time that it stopped its foot-dragging and brought Canada into the 21st century where we can compete with big foreign banks in other countries.