The dream of a national securities regulator is not dying, says Bryan Davies, vice chair of the Canadian Securities Transition Office.

Speaking Tuesday at the National Centre for Business Law in Vancouver, Davies said that the push for a national regulator remains on course, notwithstanding the growing chorus of opposition from certain provinces. Davies suggested that mainstream media reports are giving a false impression of diminishing support for the initiative.

“So, I stand here before you to emphasize that the national securities regulator project is most definitely alive and in good health,” he said. “It’s not that we’re running into more opposition. Rather, as Minister Flaherty recently commented, it’s the same opposition — just noisier.”

Davies noted that the constitutional cases brought by Quebec and Alberta to oppose the national regulator will be argued this month in their provincial courts. “I have no doubt that, as those provinces present their positions, the noise will increase — but remember, it may not always be accurate,” he said.

In the meantime, Davies said that the CSTO is continuing to work to build the new regulator. And, he called on its opponents to join that effort.

“The three currently non-participating jurisdictions have, with varying aggressiveness, expressed fears about a single regulator. The most effective way to ensure that those fears do not materialize is for experts from those jurisdictions to join with the other provinces and territories in contributing their thoughts and ideas to the design of the new regulator,” he said.

“We remain very open to accommodating that involvement, and would welcome the representation of the ‘not yet participating’ jurisdictions,” he added.

IE