Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her question. It is very important to talk about alternative proposals with regard to this issue.
I will continue in English, because I lack many words on this subject.
I want to thank the Community Reinvestment Coalition, the Canadian Consumer Initiative, the Consumers Association of Canada, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and Democracy Watch. Those are all the organizations that came to our committee with alternatives and with suggestions.
I also want to commend the Bloc for bringing forward an amendment dealing with the community reinvestment legislation. This is, interestingly, legislation that exists in the United States. It requires banks to actually invest in their communities, to put back into the communities the money that they received as a result of client and consumer loyalty. It is key to this notion of rebuilding communities by involving the banks and financial institutions and ensuring that we have the provisions to give everybody in our society the ability to play a role and make a difference.
I would like to commend the Bloc and everyone who takes up this mantle of the community reinvestment act. I know we did not get the legislation through at committee but I hope that some day we will get this legislation in this country. It is not often that we use the Americans as an example of doing something positive but in this case the legislation works. It ensures that banks have some commitment to give back to their communities and it provides for necessary community economic development.
One of the reasons we were so excited in Winnipeg when we got the alternative services up and running is that it allows low income earners to get help with setting up bank accounts, saving money and budgeting. It also provides some cheque cashing arrangements without having to go to usurious payday lenders and it has some micro-lending capacity.
It is a very exciting initiative and the first of its kind in this country. I look forward to the day when we can see this kind of notion spread across this country. I hope some day the banks come back to this notion of community investment and working with community groups to build strong, self-sufficient families and communities.