moved for leave to introduce Bill C-332, An Act to amend the Canada Business Corporations Act (annual financial statements).
Mr. Speaker, white collar crime is a blue collar issue in that all of us need to trust the annual financial statements of the companies where our pension plans are invested. Annual financial statements lack clarity and there is a mystique associated with them that makes it impossible for trustees on employee benefit plans to fulfill their fiduciary obligations adequately.
The bill calls for plain language. It calls for an expensing of stock options. For instance, when corporation executives are paid through stock options there should be a clear column in those financial statements to indicate the liability of the company associated with those stock options. This is about making annual financial statements user friendly for working people.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)