Madam Speaker, I was a proxy shareholder at the shareholders' meeting. I do not have access to all the inside information that the banks might circulate on what their total revenue is or on the amount that they spend in the community. What I am sharing with the House is the frustration that Canadians feel over what they see to be a lack of services to the community and a lack of reinvestment in the community.
I can give graphic case by case examples of small businesses that could expand in my riding if it were not for lack of access to venture capital. They could expand and grow and hire more people if they had better accessibility to capital. The banks are turning them down. The feeling is that if they cannot prove they do not need the money, the banks will not give it to them. In other words, if they need it they will not get it. If they do not need it, the banks will give them all they want.
I do not know if the intention of the member's questions is to act as some corporate shill for the banks. I do not think the banks need his help to defend themselves. They spend millions and millions every year running ads on TV trying to paint themselves as warm, fuzzy parts of the community.
Both the member who asked the question and I know that nothing could be further from the truth. Most of their profits are generated from their corporate and offshore accounts. I attended two shareholder meetings and learned that over 50% of their revenue was actually from their offshore activity.
There is very little money to be made in handling either ma and pa's bank account or the $50,000 mortgage for some newlywed in my riding. There is no money in that, and they would just as soon get out of it and pass it over to the credit unions.
If that is their attitude, why are they being rewarded, every time we turn around, with exclusive rights to the financial transactions I mentioned or with another drop in the corporate tax rate?
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is always talking about tax freedom day. On June 26 Canadians enjoy tax freedom day; they actually get to keep their money. There used to be a corporate tax freedom day, but it started getting in the way of New Year's eve. The parties started to blend together, so corporate tax freedom day was stopped because they were getting embarrassed. The New Year's eve party and the corporate tax freedom party would merge into one event.