Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On behalf of the Canadian Bankers Association, its 52 members and 267,000 employees, I would like to thank you very much for the invitation to speak to the committee on the subject of Growing Forward 2, with a particular emphasis on competitiveness. I a

Agriculture committee  Yes, I've just got one sentence left.

Agriculture committee  We were able to build on the strong relationship cultivated with government officials during AgriInvest to implement the HILLRP relatively quickly, in about three and a half months, to the benefit of producers. Thank you for the opportunity for the CBA to meet with you on your s

Agriculture committee  On that issue, I'd like my colleague from the National Bank to answer.

Finance committee  Thank you. Good afternoon. I would like to thank the committee for this opportunity to provide the banking industry's perspective on pooled registered pension plans. The Canadian Bankers Association represents 53 banks operating in Canada, banks which are well-managed, well-capi

Finance committee  When we look at an expansion of the Canada Pension Plan, it is important to remember that about 15 years ago the federal government and the provincial governments went through a significant study of the plan to make it sustainable, and in the process they raised premiums quite su

Finance committee  I just have a couple of things. First of all, when it comes to the CPP, as with any other pension or savings plan, the amount that you get out of it at the end of the day depends on what you earn and the risks that you take. The investment that a PRPP would make is exactly the sa

Finance committee  It's a defined benefit—

Finance committee  --but it is invested in the market. Ultimately, the ability to deliver on those benefits will be dependent on the return that it earns.

Finance committee  Right.

Finance committee  If it does very badly over a long period of time, something will have to give with respect to the benefits. The other risk that the Canada Pension Plan has that the PRPP does not have is a demographic risk. If you look now in Quebec, they are looking to increase the premiums on

Finance committee  I agree exactly with what Dan said. I think it's important that through the PRPP there will be competition in the marketplace. There will be options that SMEs can have. If they find one that is not performing well, they can move to another one. Again, I said earlier that we del

Finance committee  Can we predict the future? No.

Finance committee  If we're talking about the profitability of banks, we all know what happens when a banking system is not profitable. Profitability contributes to the safety and soundness not only of the institutions but also of the industry more broadly, and it contributes positively to the econ

Finance committee  However, at the end of the day, we are only profitable when we can deliver services to our customers that they view as being valuable. We do so in a competitive environment. If a particular institution isn't doing a good job of providing services to its customers, they will go el