Mr. Speaker, I would like to share my time with my colleague, the hon. member for Nipissing—Timiskaming.
I noticed that my colleague, the parliamentary secretary, quoted some rather negative words from me on the NDP about Luddites or never knowing economics. I guess I cannot deny having said them but they sounded a little bit harsh. I am sure I had equally harsh words for the Conservatives.
However, I should at least clarify to the House that if I said those words about the NDP not understanding economics or being Luddites, those words were not intended to be directed to the provincial wing of the New Democratic Party, but solely to the federal wing, because the fact of the matter is that over the past decades, the NDP provincially has gained power and some provincial NDP governments have been very good. In fact, they have been rather like Liberal governments. We think of Gary Doer and Roy Romanow, excellent leaders with excellent economic policies.
Therefore, the ignorance on economics and the Luddite nature of thinking is limited to the federal branch of the party, and partly that is because the party has never had power. It is kind of circular. They have never had power so they are Luddites, and they are Luddites so they will never have power.
That being said, I would indicate that notwithstanding my comments toward the NDP, which were meant in a good spirit, the Liberal Party will nevertheless be voting in favour of the NDP motion.
It is not as if we agree with every word. In fact, much of it is misguided and much of it seems to rest on the false assumption that Canada is the same as the United States and that every problem in the United States, especially now that President Obama is in charge, is exactly the same and has the same solution in Canada. I can tell members that, as one who has worked in the banking sector for a little while, the Canadian banking system is radically different from the U.S. banking system, so solutions that are appropriate for the U.S. are not necessarily appropriate at all for Canada.
I suppose that is a quibble because we do think there are major issues and the NDP is raising some of these issues in its motion. There are issues surrounding credit cards, on interest rates, on information disclosure and on fees. We believe there needs to be greater clarity for consumers, more proactive disclosure, and greater protection for Canadians. Some of the issues are clearly important and we do think that some actions are needed.
That is why the Liberal Party has assumed the lead role with respect to inquiries before parliamentary committees, that is, not only the Senate committee but also the House of Commons standing committees on Finance and on Industry, Science and Technology. We will therefore hear the witnesses, examine testimony and reach our conclusions from those procedures. We shall see what the witnesses have to say.
However, we do know at this point that there are many complaints out there about the credit card system. We think a number of those are likely to be justified, so we in the Liberal Party have been pushing for the issue to be heard before parliamentary committees in both the Senate and the House. We will be listening to those witnesses with interest and based on that information draw our own conclusions.
Let me say a few words about why the American system is different from the Canadian system and why the measures that may be appropriate for the United States may not be appropriate for Canada. Canada has been characterized by our national banking system for many decades, whereas the United States has been characterized by a more dispersed banking system. Study after study has shown that credit card spreads and other spreads are indeed higher in the United States. Delinquency rates are higher in the United States.
Canada has not had the same kind of subprime mortgage crisis. It has to some degree, but not nearly to the same degree as in the United States. In particular, our banks did not extend credit and get into complicated or risky derivatives, subprime mortgages to nearly the same degree as was the case in the United States, so it is largely for those reasons that our banking system has not been hit with insolvency and loan losses in the trillions of dollars, which we in this country have not seen.
I should also point out that the Conservatives cannot claim credit for the solidity of the Canadian banking system. I would argue that part of the explanation was the decision of the Chrétien government not permit mergers. Another part of the explanation is that we have had stronger regulation over many decades than was the case in the United States. So for all of those reasons we are fortunate to have a solid banking system in this country which, while certainly not universally loved, has performed much better than in the United States.
I say that to provide a little bit of perspective, but at the same time we are supporting the motion. We believe there are significant problems in the credit card sector that have to been addressed and that is what we Liberals are doing along with other parties. In committees we will be hearing witnesses, examining possible abuses, examining the possible need for greater clarity for consumers, greater protection for Canadians and proactive disclosure.
While we do not support every item in this NDP motion, we can support the spirit of it for the reasons I have given and for that reason the Liberal Party will be supporting the motion.