Mr. Speaker, under the new legislation the Minister of Finance still has the final power, as he knows.
I want to ask him about rural communities. Banks are important to people and small businesses in rural communities. Yet this legislation only requires six months' notice before they pull out. In six months they are gone.
Why does the minister not bring in legislation that would make it a requirement that the banks not be allowed to close a branch in a rural community and that as long as that branch is making a profit in a community it should stay in the community?