Madam Speaker, I thank you very much for calling him to order on his choice of language, because I used the same term as he did, innocent, which means that they are not guilty. Somehow he decided that it meant that he was simple-minded. If that is what he thinks about himself, there is not much I can do about it. However, I will defend him from calling himself simple-minded, and you will too. I think that is a very good thing in this House. You are completely right, Madam Speaker.
It is quite clear if one reads the case the government always cites as the example of why, somehow, big brother from Ottawa knows best and can come in and take over the field of securities regulation. It is Earl Jones. On November 7, 2001, the Royal Bank knew that Earl Jones was defrauding his clients. It is here in black and white in the official court documents. The federal government is responsible for banks. It did nothing. The federal regulator responsible for banks did nothing. The Royal Bank of Canada did nothing.
Before the government tries to take over somebody else's jurisdiction, why does it not start taking care of what it is responsible for but that it is misadministering and is incompetent in. The government is not capable of taking care of its own things, yet somehow, it imagines itself being better.
It is not an argument about the Toronto Star. What a surprise. The Toronto Star wants Toronto to become responsible. What a surprise.
Look at the objective elements here. The objective element is that the OECD says that Canada's current regulatory structure in the field of securities, the passport system, is the second most efficient in the world. That is why the Liberals say that it is imprudent and irresponsible to be spending money, and we should withdraw this bill. That is why the Bloc is proposing to withdraw the bill. That is why we agree that the bill should be withdrawn.