Mr. Speaker, the Community Reinvestment Act is an American idea that works very well in large American cities. Banks are obligated to reinvest a certain amount of their profits into community enterprises or small businesses or start-up businesses that otherwise might not have qualified for a loan under a more traditional setting and certainly would not have qualified for a loan in Canada.
Sometimes they are funding non-profits or giving bank loans to groups that otherwise would not qualify. In some small way at least the banks are repaying for the privilege they enjoy as a chartered bank in this country. We are disappointed there is no reference to it in Bill C-38.