Conservative MP Maxime Bernier says he believes his government's plan for a national securities regulator is unconstitutional – but if the Supreme Courts says it's okay, he'll vote for it.
Mr. Bernier is creating a stir this week with a public letter repeating his view that regulating securities is a role that belongs to the provinces.
The government of Quebec, which strongly opposes the draft bill put forward by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty last year, jumped on Mr. Bernier's comments Wednesday as "good news." The praise from deputy premier Nathalie Normandeau was in spite of the fact Mr. Bernier's letter was largely a criticism of what he views as Quebec's week legal arguments in challenging the matter.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Bernier said his government is doing the right thing by asking the Supreme Court to clarify the constitutional question.
"If Ottawa wins, I will vote for the bill in the House of Commons because that bill will be constitutional and, the same thing, if the provinces win, we won't have a bill in front of us before the House of Commons because my government will respect that decision, and I'll do the same," he said. "I think it's good to have this debate ... and the best one will win."
Speaking to CBC, Mr. Flaherty did not appear concerned by Mr. Bernier's comments, noting that the MP is entitled to his opinions. "Maxime has held this view for a long time," he said.
This isn't the first time Mr. Bernier has veered from the party line in a Conservative caucus that is known for sticking to approved talking points. Last year Mr. Bernier put forward a proposal that would dramatically reform the way provincial transfers for health and social programs are managed.
"The question now becomes what if anything will happen to Bernier after his most recent comments," writes Keith Beardsley, a former deputy chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, on his blog. "Bernier has gone out on a limb before, but to date, neither the Prime Minister nor his minions in PMO have chopped that limb off. This time though Bernier is directly challenging and publicly disagreeing with a key policy of the government."
Mr. Bernier, who is often mentioned as a potential future leadership candidate for the Conservatives, plays down his free-speaking ways.
"First of all, I didn't ask permission," he said. "I'm in politics to debate ideas. That's what I did since the beginning when I was first elected in 2006 and I'm going to continue to do that."
Also Wednesday, the Ontario government dropped its insistence the head office for the proposed regulator be located in Toronto, home to Canada's major industry players.
In its filing to the Supreme Court this week, Queen's Park avoids any mention of the highly contentious head-office question. Instead, its factum merely states that "Ontario expects that Toronto, the locus of Canada's financial industry, will play a central role in the proposed regulatory regime."
This stand is in sharp contrast to earlier comments made by both Premier Dalton McGuinty and Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, both of whom have stressed the importance of having the head office in the country's financial capital. "It would be an enormous slap in the face, both to Toronto and to the financial services community if it were not headquartered here," Mr. Duncan told The Globe and Mail last year.
A spokesman for Mr. Duncan said Ontario officials felt that the legal document was not the appropriate place to state opinions forcefully regarding issues that are well outside the question before the Supreme Court.
A securities lawyer who asked not to be named disagreed and said the document provided the best opportunity for Ontario to assert its interests. If the federal government does gets the green light from the Supreme Court to set up a national regulator, he said, it will be too late for Ontario to push for the head office because the province will no longer have any bargaining leverage with Ottawa.
With a report from Karen Howlett in Toronto
Bill Curry