Quebec’s finance minister declares that his province is firmly opposed to any federal encroachment on its jurisdiction over securities regulation.

In a statement, Michel Audet, the province’s minister of finance, rejected the invitation from federal finance minister, Ralph Goodale, to hold a working meeting in September with a view to creating a single securities regulatory body in Canada. The invitation was privately extended to all of the provinces.

“Our government has already made known on several occasions that it was out of the question for the federal government to get involved in the regulation of securities in Quebec,” explained Audet.

“Last spring, Quebec together with all the provinces and territories, except for Ontario, announced the setting up of a common securities passport system. With the passport system, which is slated to take effect in September, we are meeting the same simplification and harmonization objective, while respecting the constitutional jurisdictions of each government,” he added.