Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the brilliant speech by my colleague, the member for Hochelaga—Maisonneuve.
I have just learned something and I thank the member for it. With regard to community reinvestment—I am sorry but that is what I had in mind—I thought the obligation to give money to a particular sector or a particular activity was automatic. I see this is not the case.
My colleague seems to have a good knowledge of all the aspects of the American banking system. In the United States, where they have community reinvestment legislation, have banks or bankers been exempted from paying taxes elsewhere in compensation for these investments in the community?
I am wondering if such compensation exists. Has the member studied this side of the issue? I agree with the kind of reinvestment he is proposing, namely a reduction of service fees for low income users. In the United States, has the government found a way to compensate the banks by taking less money from them?
The member will understand why I am asking this question. When the current Minister of Finance brought down his 1999 budget, the Bloc Quebecois spoke out against the fact that the minister was being very generous to the richest, namely the banks, and that they should be paying a lot more taxes than they had been up to that point. Despite a slight tax increase in that sector, it clearly was not enough to create social justice as well as tax fairness.
I want to ask my colleague from Hochelaga—Maisonneuve if the Americans do the same kinds of favours as our good finance minister does to his banker friends.