Finance committee  I'll respond to you more fully, but certainly money laundering is a huge burden on credit union organizations. Obviously, we're not in favour of money laundering, but the compliance, especially in the area of records maintenance and tracking, is a real burden for small institutio

Finance committee  That's correct, Mr. Chair. In fact, you could say that the FCC is the only bank in Canada that does not undergo a regular mandate review. The BDC and EDC must undergo reviews every 10 years; commercial banks undergo reviews every five years. There's no requirement that this take

Finance committee  I think we're more concerned that the review take place. But I think it is a banking type of institution, so it would be entirely appropriate that it be with the finance committee.

Finance committee  Well, that's the point. Our position is sometimes characterized as if we want to do away with Farm Credit Canada. That couldn't be further from the truth. There is a role for Farm Credit Canada. There's no question about that—none whatsoever. Similarly, there's a role for the B

Finance committee  Yes, that's exactly right. If we look at crown corporations, such as the Business Development Bank of Canada and the Export Development Bank of Canada, their statutes clearly state that they should behave in a manner that is complementary to private sector institutions. In other

Finance committee  It's an area of interest, but we're different from Caisse Desjardins. We're much more decentralized, so we are not as active in that field. Clearly it's something that would be of interest to explore at some point in the future.

Finance committee  Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee, thank you for this opportunity to appear before you today. I've been asked to discuss how credit unions in Canada help to ensure prosperous and secure rural communities. I should first mention that my organization, the Credit Union Cen

Finance committee  There are many good things in this budget. We've heard about them today—

Finance committee  We've done an impact assessment and we've determined that 90% of the aggregate net income in the credit union system last year will be affected by the tax increase.

Finance committee  This is a mistake. You've got advice out of the bureaucracy without any analysis of the competitive impact. This has come forward. It's not connected to the jobs and growth agenda. It's not connected to what you say on page 147.

Finance committee  I did answer the question.

Finance committee  There are 1,760 physical locations—

Finance committee  There are not more than 1,000. There are 348 credit unions. In fact, there are fewer than that right now.

Finance committee  If you add in the caisse pops in Quebec, you get a larger number, but there are 348 credit unions. When you add up all of what they earned in 2012, you get 3% of what the large Canadian banks made, and this provision is not consistent—

Finance committee  —with what the budget says on page 147. This provision is a mistake.