Ms Shelly Glover, MP, (first left) and Minister of State (Finance) Hon Ted Menzies, MP, (centre, speaking) at a pension roundtable in a suburban Winnipeg store.
solid, with well-run companies based on sound risk management. It is supported by an effective regulatory and supervisory framework. In Canada’s case, we have an
effective prudential supervisor in the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, who reports to Parliament through the Minister of Finance. The Superintendent has a clear mandate – to protect the interests of depositors and policy holders – and the tools and authorities needed to deal quickly and early when issues arise. The Superintendent supervises financial institutions on a consolidated basis, which includes all domestic and international subsidiaries of banks and insurance companies.
Secondly, there is the Governor of the Bank of Canada. The Governor is responsible for monetary policy and for oversight of systemically important payment clearing and settlement systems, and is the lender of last resort to the financial system. Thirdly, there is the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures deposits and acts as the resolution authority for failed banks. Fourthly, there is a separate Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, which we have had for many years now and is responsible for consumer protection. These officials meet regularly with the Department of Finance and their job is to keep an eye on the system and watch for early warning signs.
At the same time, we are actively identifying areas in need of improvement.
Chief among them has been the absence of a national securities regulator. Our
government is working with willing provinces and territories to establish a national securities regulator to offer better protection for investors, simpler processes for business and a more
comprehensive framework for addressing systemic risks that arise from capital markets.
Fiscal advantage Canada also has a strong and credible fiscal track record. Our government paid down significant amounts of debt when times were good and kept our net debt-to-
GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ratio well below our G7 counterparts. This gave us the capacity to
inject $60 billion in fiscal stimulus into our economy when it was needed – our Economic Action Plan budgets of 2009 and 2010, including measures to provide liquidity.
On the world stage, the Canadian economy is coping relatively well in spite of the economic challenges we must face beyond our borders. Canada’s economic and fiscal fundamentals remain solid and sustainable.
• We are the only G7 country that has recovered more than all of the output and all of the jobs lost during the downturn.