Mr. Speaker, I think it is fair to say that there are number of mitigating factors that ultimately led to the crisis situation in the United States. There is absolutely no doubt that regulations had a very significant impact in terms of what actually had taken place.
One of the other things that had a significant impact was the way mortgages were being handed out. That is the reason one could be very critical. One of the first things the member's government did was to establish those 40 year mortgages. That was not in the best interests of the banking industry and the consumers in Canada.
The member needs to reflect on the fact that there were a number of factors that had an impact and caused the banking crisis in the U.S. However, we should not underestimate the importance of deregulation and the importance of making smart decisions, something that his government did not do when it decided in its wisdom to allow for 40 year mortgages. That was a bad decision.