Finance committee  Our concern, really, is with the Cooperative Credit Associations Act. I hesitate to enter into the area of banking regulation. I think there are some important issues there. We obviously share some of those same issues, but.... I think I'll defer an answer to that direct questi

Finance committee  I think one of the issues is the restriction on commercial lending powers in the Cooperative Credit Associations Act. These are quite restrictive in comparison to the Bank Act, and certainly something that we would like to see some loosening of. There is regulatory authority in O

Finance committee  I don't have statistics on that. What I understand is that this is seen as a good line of business for credit unions. Where they have the authority to get into it, they do so, and see this as a successful strategic direction for them.

Finance committee  It really depends on the place that credit union is situated. In some provinces, and I'm thinking particularly of B.C., there are powers conferred by the provincial government under legislation to sell insurance.

Finance committee  It does. Again, we find considerable variation in the regulation of credit unions across the country because of provincial regulation, so that each province tends to regulate a little bit differently. Of course, in Quebec--

Finance committee  Those are the two that come to mind at this point.

Finance committee  Good morning, Mr. Chair and committee members. I want to thank you for this opportunity to come before the committee today to provide some comments on Bill C-37. My name is David Phillips and I'm president and the CEO of Credit Union Central of Canada. Canadian Central is a fede