Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to thank the NDP member across the way for supporting a Conservative finance minister. I hope he does that for more than just the province of Alberta and supports the federal Conservative finance minister, the number one finance minister in the world.
We will eliminate duplication and unnecessary costs through this process. It is a situation where there will be no office closures and no loss of jobs. It is voluntary. I do not know what the member does not understand about it being voluntary, but it is a voluntary system and it gives Canada a competitive advantage.
My interest is in what we would lose as a result of not going ahead with the system. I have looked at some of the reports by, for instance, the Canadian Bankers Association and the Investment Industry Association of Canada and they have clearly said that we are losing opportunity in Canada.
I am wondering if the member could comment on John Coffee's Colombia University study which shows that Canada loses about $10 billion a year in economic output and 65,000 jobs. Why has this not been done before? Could the member elaborate a bit on what we are losing as an opportunity cost?