Mr. Speaker, as usual, the member for Bonaventure—Gaspé—Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Pabok has a way of putting things.
I think that we are going to hear this description again. No, we cannot give a blank cheque to the Minister of Finance when it comes to the future of the National Bank.
I repeat, the National Bank is the only Quebec-based bank. It is a mid-sized bank. It is smaller than the major Canadian banks. But it is Quebecers' major bank and it is the bank that finances small and medium size businesses.
I have been on the Standing Committee on Industry long enough to know that these businesses have tremendous difficulty getting financing from the other banks. The other banks prefer to make loans to the rich. The Bible warned us about this. We see it regularly.
So we must ensure that this bank remains in Quebec's hands, that it is not controlled by one person. Such a person could be from another country and could break it up and take it in a completely different direction, but he could also be a big industrialist who would want to change the rules of competition so that he would not have to make loans to small and medium size businesses that were not to his liking.
In no way can we agree to what this bill is proposing, for the economic health of Quebec, for the ability to retain control over the important part of the economy that these businesses represent, and we know that they are much more important in the economy in Quebec than anywhere else in North America.
Why does the minister not say that what is good for the National Bank would be good for Canadian banks? Why have departmental officials said that they are worried about control? If they are worried about control of the major Canadian banks if they increase the percentage of shares that may be held by one individual from 10% to 20%, it only makes sense to be even more worried about control if one person is allowed to hold 65% of the shares in the National Bank.
It is clearly unacceptable. We cannot even consider this proposal. It is ridiculous.
I say, like my colleague, that the Minister of Finance's intentions may be good. I saw a press release that said he wanted to help us. That kind of help we do not need. What we want is a rule that will guarantee us that control will remain in Quebec.