Madam Speaker, while I listened to the hon. parliamentary secretary, I could not help but be struck by what I would consider taking undue credit for the strength of the Canadian financial system. I am glad the legislation has some renewals on sunset clauses and technical amendments because, in the past, Conservatives urged deregulation of Canada's financial system. I believe the strength of Canada's financial system really is due to the resistance by previous Liberal governments to deregulate.
After the 2006 election, we had proof of the Conservative's desire to deregulate when the finance minister brought in 40-year mortgages with no down payment. Over the years, they realized that was a mistake because it encouraged consumers to take on too much risk. We know that the allowance of these mortgages was amended over the years. A couple of years later it was changed so that only 35 years was allowed for the period of a mortgage, requiring a down payment of 5%. Just last year they said that was maybe a little too risky. They had to back off some more and changed it to 30 years, with a 5% down payment.
The bill is worth supporting because the renewal of the sunset clauses is needed as well as some of the technical amendments, which could be tweaked. However, I want to counter what the parliamentary secretary has said in taking credit for the strength of Canada's financial system, which is recognized by the rest of the world. Having heard—