Mr. Speaker, access is a very important question. As we study bank mergers across the country we often find that where bank branches have been closed it has often been in some of the poorer areas of the country, like inner cities. I think there are even fewer bank branches in the inner city of Regina and in Winnipeg. There are probably fewer bank branches in the inner city of Winnipeg than there are in the suburbs in terms of access for the people.
Because fewer people have cars in the inner cities they rely on public transportation or on walking to get to a bank. The question of access then becomes very important.
The other part of course is rural Canada. Often banks will close branches in rural Canada. This is where the credit union will often come in. A while ago in Saskatchewan and Manitoba a number of the branches of the Bank of Montreal were closed. However, to the credit of the Bank of Montreal, it negotiated an arrangement with the credit union where it took over a former Bank of Montreal branch and continued to provide service to people in the communities.
The other thing is that when a bank branch closes there is often less competition. The town may have had two banks but it is now down to one. This puts less pressure on the lending officers to lend money for a mortgage, for a small business loan or a personal loan, or provide the basic services to ordinary Canadians.
Those are the reasons that it is important for the finance committee of the House of Commons to maintain its role and to study whether bank mergers should proceed.
My prediction is that after the election of the member for LaSalle—Émard as the leader of the Liberal Party and the Prime Minister of the country, if he survives the next election campaign, once again mergers will be proposed and he will try to give the flashing green light to those mergers. I need these checks and balances on behalf of the ordinary people of Canada.
I see that the hon. member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot wants to ask a question. I am going to stop here so that he can ask it.