Finance committee  Well, it says, “The Minister may establish...other committees”, so indeed there's not a restriction that they be advisory in nature.

Finance committee  This is a power that a number of ministers have, and one can imagine it being used in the following situation. As you know, a number of expert panels have been appointed. In selecting people for these panels, it's often necessary to look for particular expertise, and there may be

Finance committee  Again, the terms and conditions, or those sorts of things, would be supervised by the Governor in Council, but it would not be necessary to submit a request for proposals, for example.

Finance committee  It needs to be an advisory committee, and the minister has to—

Finance committee  The bill reads, “may establish advisory and other committees”.

Finance committee  Can the governor purchase asset-backed commercial paper today? I don't believe so. The bank can accept it as collateral for a loan; I don't believe the bank could purchase it today. I'd have to check.

Finance committee  I would say two things in this regard. First of all, the intent is for the governor to be able to establish the appropriate list. There are two types of restraints on the use of that power. One is the purpose test: these purchases and sales have to be made either for the purpos

Finance committee  The legal restraint on the use of it is the purpose test. That is to say these transactions have to be done with one of those two purposes as the motivation. The transparency and accountability is a sunshine aspect.

Finance committee  In what sense?

Finance committee  For what would become subparagraph (g.1), this is not unlike what will become subparagraph (g.2). It's not a situation test. It's not if the governor is of the opinion that the financial system is unstable, but rather that these transactions must be done with the purpose of suppo

Finance committee  The other point I would make in this regard is a bit of a technical one, but nonetheless it's potentially important. The bank already has a broad power to make loans backed by collateral. There is a popular form of transaction in financial markets called the “repo”. This is a tra

Finance committee  What is a financial instrument that's not a security?

Finance committee  That's a question of legal drafting. I'm afraid I don't know the answer.

Finance committee  Yes, if it were on the list that had been established by the governor.

Finance committee  The proposed amendments give the governor the discretion to make additions to the list of assets the bank can buy or sell, as needed. Of course, that could be helpful in a situation of financial instability.