Mr. Speaker, section 347 of the Criminal Code, which prohibits interest of over 60%, was originally brought forward to address the type of loansharking the hon. member has referenced, the serious cases that we perhaps have seen in the movies. People do not imagine, in many cases, the thousands and, indeed, millions of transactions that take place in Canada with some of the payday lending institutions.
As I mentioned, the payday lending branch is a relatively new phenomenon in Canada. It has developed since those provisions in the Criminal Code were made to combat loansharking.
We feel that section 347, while appropriate to deal with loansharking, those type of serious underworld activities, as the member references, is not the best tool to regulate the payday lending industry as it has developed. We feel the group in the best position to regulate this industry is the provinces. We have talked a bit about Manitoba. I mentioned Nova Scotia. We talked about Quebec.
It could be that each province will take a somewhat different approach to regulate payday lending within its jurisdiction. We recognize the different approaches that provinces wish to take. By passing Bill C-26, at their request, we are enabling them to take that approach. It should be mentioned that if a province chooses not to move in this direction and regulate that area of law, then section 347 of the Criminal Code continues to apply to all transactions.