Mr. Speaker, there are a number of points that I could challenge the member on with regard to some of his statements.
One thing Manitobans take great pride in is having the cheapest hydroelectricity rates in North America. There may be one state somewhere down south that might be a better, but he cannot stake the claim with regard to energy costs for the province of Ontario.
I find the member to be somewhat of a self-proclaimed consumer advocate. The reality is that there many consumer advocates in the House and definitely within the Liberal party caucus.
What seems to upset the member the most is the fact that there is a $7 fee for a $20 withdrawal. Those are the numbers the member used. The greatest abuse of that nature is not necessarily with the banks but with the independent operators of the machines, and that practice is provincially regulated.
My question to the member, being a self-proclaimed consumer advocate, is this. Can he tell us what the NDP provincial government has done to deal with the outrageous fees that he refers to, or does he believe the provinces have any role? Maybe he believes that the national NDP, if ever given the opportunity to govern, would put a 50¢ cap on provincially regulated institutions also.