Mr. Speaker, I do not want to get into the merits or the pros and cons of whether we should allow foreign banking. However, if foreign banks were allowed in and allowed to compete, as he and his party wish, would he not agree or take under advisement the private member's bill of my hon. colleague from Regina—Qu'Appelle which would force banks to have more community investment, similar to the credit union movement, where they would have to reinvest so much of their profits in the community so that we could have regional development, especially in the rural areas? I know that he comes from a rural area. Would he not agree that would be one hell of an idea and would he not agree that his party should support that initiative?
In the House of Commons on March 24th, 1999. See this statement in context.