Speech (House debate)

{
    "time": "2012-10-31 17:50:00",
    "attribution": {
        "en": "Mr. Kennedy Stewart (Burnaby\u2014Douglas, NDP)",
        "fr": "M. Kennedy Stewart (Burnaby\u2014Douglas, NPD)"
    },
    "content": {
        "en": "<p data-HoCid=\"3034503\" data-originallang=\"en\">Mr. Speaker, I am happy to rise this evening and speak to Bill <a data-HoCid=\"5281963\" href=\"/bills/41-1/C-28/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act\">C-28, An Act to amend the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act</a>.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034504\" data-originallang=\"en\">I do support this bill, although with some reservations, which I will speak to. My main concerns are the lack of an advisory council and the lack of inclusiveness. I do think this bill could have been more inclusive. I hope that when the government reviews this piece of legislation, it makes that a primary concern. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034505\" data-originallang=\"en\">In listening to the debate this afternoon, I have wondered about the percentage of our economic trouble that is caused by low financial literacy. If we recount the state we are in at the moment, we have quite low economic growth. Our growth rate has just been reported and downgraded to 1.6%. We have been through a major recession. If we look across the water to Europe, the United Kingdom has been through a double-dip recession. There is all kinds of trouble in Greece and other countries. The United States has been struggling, although there are some signs of a little bit of a pickup there.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034506\" data-originallang=\"en\">What is the cause of the problem? We know that what happened in 2008 was mainly the result of economic turmoil in the United States, where consumers became too indebted and bought into some bad mortgages. The financial institutions in the United States had invented financial tools that enabled mortgages to be bundled and packaged, and sold from institution to institution. Most institutions had no idea what they were buying but just thought it was a great deal. Earnings went up and up with apparently little or no risk. The economy, under the Bush regime, just continued on until we had a crash.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034507\" data-originallang=\"en\">The investors who bought all of these bundled mortgages realized that the mortgages were flawed and faulty, and there was a crash. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and other institutions went under. If we think about that collapse, it not only happened in the United States but went right around the world as well. There was a big increase in unemployment. I read an interesting book written by Gordon Brown on this topic, talking about how global leaders acted very quickly to try to stem a depression, which I think was a real possibility. We are still feeling the effects today.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034508\" data-originallang=\"en\">When I think about this I wonder how much of it was caused by a lack of financial literacy. I would say that very little was. It was really about the large financial institutions that were playing fast and loose with the rules, fooling each other as much as they could to make large profits.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034509\" data-originallang=\"en\">While I see the inherent value of these changes, I do think there is a much larger picture to be taken into account here. I would also say that these things are very unpredictable. In 2008, we had the <a data-HoCid=\"78777\" href=\"/politicians/jim-flaherty/\" title=\"Jim Flaherty\">Minister of Finance</a> on the other side of the House saying that there were no problems with the economy, and all of a sudden we lapsed into a recession.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034510\" data-originallang=\"en\">I would suggest that it is actually the government that needs to sharpen its pencil and take more account of these things, for example, by listening more closely to the Parliamentary Budgetary Officer.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034511\" data-originallang=\"en\">I am disappointed that there was no effort to include an advisory committee in this act. I hope that the government reviews this, perhaps a year into the implementation of the act. The advisory committee would not only bring more eyes to look at this but would also be more inclusive.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034512\" data-originallang=\"en\">I will conclude by talking about the value of inclusion. For example, if labour unions were brought more onboard in this bill, they could go to their memberships and spread the word not only about this new institution but also help increase financial literacy among their members. I really would advise the government to take that into account. </p>",
        "fr": "<p data-HoCid=\"3034503\" data-originallang=\"en\">Monsieur le Pr\u00e9sident, c'est un plaisir pour moi de parler aujourd'hui du projet de loi <a data-HoCid=\"5281963\" href=\"/bills/41-1/C-28/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act\">C-28, Loi modifiant la Loi sur l'Agence de la consommation en mati\u00e8re financi\u00e8re du Canada</a>.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034504\" data-originallang=\"en\">J'appuie ce projet de loi, m\u00eame si j'ai quelques r\u00e9serves, que je vous expose \u00e0 l'instant. Ma principale inqui\u00e9tude tient au fait qu'on n'y parle nulle part de conseil consultatif et qu'il n'est pas inclusif du tout. Je crois en effet qu'il aurait pu \u00eatre plus inclusif. J'esp\u00e8re que ce sera l'une des priorit\u00e9s du gouvernement lors de l'\u00e9tude de ce projet de loi.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034505\" data-originallang=\"en\">En \u00e9coutant ce qui s'est dit cet apr\u00e8s-midi, je me suis demand\u00e9 quelle proportion de nos probl\u00e8mes \u00e9conomiques \u00e9taient dus \u00e0 l'analphab\u00e9tisme financier. \u00c0 l'heure actuelle, la croissance \u00e9conomique est plut\u00f4t faible. En fait, notre taux de croissance vient tout juste de descendre \u00e0 1,6 %. Nous sortons d'une grosse r\u00e9cession. Et de l'autre c\u00f4t\u00e9 de l'Atlantique, le Royaume-Uni a m\u00eame connu une r\u00e9cession \u00e0 double creux. Et que dire des turbulences qui secouent la Gr\u00e8ce et plusieurs autres pays. Les \u00c9tats-Unis ont eux aussi connu leur lot de difficult\u00e9s, m\u00eame si on note des signes l\u00e9g\u00e8rement encourageants. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034506\" data-originallang=\"en\">Quelle est la cause de tous ces probl\u00e8mes? Nous savons que ce qui est arriv\u00e9 en 2008 est principalement d\u00fb aux perturbations \u00e9conomiques qui ont touch\u00e9 les \u00c9tats-Unis, elles-m\u00eames caus\u00e9es par le fait que les consommateurs se sont trop endett\u00e9s et ont contract\u00e9 des hypoth\u00e8ques pr\u00e9caires. Les institutions financi\u00e8res am\u00e9ricaines ont invent\u00e9 des outils financiers afin que les hypoth\u00e8ques puissent \u00eatre regroup\u00e9es et vendues d'une institution \u00e0 l'autre. La plupart ne savaient pas ce qu'elles achetaient et pensaient qu'il devait s'agir d'une bonne affaire. Les gains se sont mis \u00e0 grimper, sans qu'il y ait apparemment beaucoup de risques, voire pas du tout. Sous l'administration Bush, l'\u00e9conomie a poursuivi sa course folle, jusqu'au moment o\u00f9 elle s'est \u00e9croul\u00e9e. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034507\" data-originallang=\"en\">Quand les investisseurs qui avaient achet\u00e9 ces hypoth\u00e8ques regroup\u00e9es se sont aper\u00e7us qu'elles \u00e9taient pr\u00e9caires et douteuses, ce fut le krach. Fannie Mae et Freddie Mac et d'autres \u00e9tablissements ont coul\u00e9 \u00e0 pic. Quand on y repense, c'est la plan\u00e8te enti\u00e8re qui a subi les contrecoups de cet effondrement, pas seulement les \u00c9tats-Unis. Le ch\u00f4mage a notamment grimp\u00e9 en fl\u00e8che. J'ai lu un ouvrage int\u00e9ressant sur le sujet. L'auteur, Gordon Brown, dit que la communaut\u00e9 internationale a r\u00e9agi tr\u00e8s rapidement afin d'\u00e9viter une d\u00e9pression, ce qui \u00e9tait une r\u00e9elle possibilit\u00e9, selon moi. Nous en ressentons les effets encore aujourd'hui.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034508\" data-originallang=\"en\">Quand j'examine ces \u00e9v\u00e9nements, je me demande dans quelle mesure ils ont \u00e9t\u00e9 caus\u00e9s par des lacunes en litt\u00e9ratie financi\u00e8re. Je crois que la litt\u00e9ratie financi\u00e8re n'avait pas grand-chose \u00e0 y voir. De grandes institutions financi\u00e8res s'amusaient \u00e0 bafouer les r\u00e8gles et \u00e0 se berner les unes les autres du mieux qu'elles le pouvaient dans le but de r\u00e9colter d'\u00e9normes b\u00e9n\u00e9fices.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034509\" data-originallang=\"en\">Bien que je reconnaisse la valeur des changements propos\u00e9s, je crois qu'il faut aussi tenir compte du contexte global. Selon moi, ces choses sont tout \u00e0 fait impr\u00e9visibles. En 2008, le <a data-HoCid=\"78777\" href=\"/politicians/jim-flaherty/\" title=\"Jim Flaherty\">ministre des Finances</a> a d\u00e9clar\u00e9, de l'autre c\u00f4t\u00e9 de la Chambre, que tout allait bien sur le plan \u00e9conomique, puis le Canada a soudainement sombr\u00e9 dans une r\u00e9cession.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034510\" data-originallang=\"en\">En fait, le gouvernement gagnerait \u00e0 bien faire ses devoirs et \u00e0 se montrer plus attentif, notamment \u00e0 ce que dit le directeur parlementaire du budget.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034511\" data-originallang=\"en\">Je suis d\u00e9\u00e7u qu'on n'ait pas tent\u00e9 d'inclure dans ce projet de loi la pr\u00e9sence d'un comit\u00e9 consultatif. J'esp\u00e8re que le gouvernement r\u00e9\u00e9valuera cet \u00e9l\u00e9ment, peut-\u00eatre un an apr\u00e8s l'entr\u00e9e en vigueur de la loi. Un comit\u00e9 consultatif aurait pour avantage de soumettre la question \u00e0 plus de regards, en plus de favoriser l'inclusion. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"3034512\" data-originallang=\"en\">J'aimerais parler de l'importance de l'inclusion, pour terminer. \u00c0 titre d'exemple, si le projet de loi encourageait une participation accrue des syndicats, ceux-ci pourraient faire conna\u00eetre la nouvelle institution \u00e0 leurs membres, en plus de contribuer \u00e0 am\u00e9liorer leur litt\u00e9ratie financi\u00e8re. J'encourage vivement le gouvernement \u00e0 garder ces avantages \u00e0 l'esprit.</p>"
    },
    "url": "/debates/2012/10/31/kennedy-stewart-4/",
    "politician_url": "/politicians/kennedy-stewart/",
    "politician_membership_url": "/politicians/memberships/4100/",
    "procedural": false,
    "source_id": "7756049",
    "h1": {
        "en": "Government Orders",
        "fr": "Initiatives Minist\u00e9rielles"
    },
    "h2": {
        "en": "Financial Literacy Leader Act",
        "fr": "Loi sur le chef du d\u00e9veloppement de la litt\u00e9ratie financi\u00e8re"
    },
    "document_url": "/debates/2012/10/31/",
    "related": {
        "document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fdebates%2F2012%2F10%2F31%2F"
    }
}