It is a good article, but I'd say a more precise word for Canadian banks is that they're skeptical, rather than Conservative. I think skepticism helps to define

It is a good article, but I'd say a more precise word for Canadian banks is that they're skeptical, rather than Conservative. I think skepticism helps to define Canadians. We were skeptical enough to not join the Americans in leaving the monarchy. The difference between skepticism and conservatism is being open to the possibility of change. Here's where I think regulation did come into play. While the Canadian banks were and are skeptical, I think they had had enough proof by the mid 1990s that the American style of banking was the future, that they were willing to change. It's the rationale for the merger requests to the Liberals in the 1990s. They wanted to be big enough to play with the big boys down south. That meant playing the same style of game. I think we dodged a bullet. I'm be no means a Liberal fan boy, and for the life of me, I can't understand why Paul Martin didn't let the mergers to happen. No doubt his social circle of friends would have been coaxing him to do just that (can you tell I'm a bit cynical when it comes to politicians?). But read some of the accounts of the merger situation, from more than 10 years ago, like this one: http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:FlhuiCh6d7sJ:www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:FlhuiCh6d7sJ:www.thecana... For those trying to downplay the role the government had, the proof is in some library archives. Just read it. Here's a juicy tidbit: Banking and government sources both say Martin did his utmost to be diplomatic. He did not want to appear to have made up his mind, given that the federal competition bureau would not deliver its report on the mergers for almost two weeks, but he also wanted to prepare the banker for bad news. Like everything else arising from this year’s ill-fated bank mergers, however, this meeting between two of the most powerful figures in Canadian finance went off the rails fairly fast. For weeks, Cleghorn’s fuse had been growing shorter as his frustration mounted over Canadians’ inability to understand the bankers’ point of view. In response to Martin’s evasiveness, something apparently snapped. Cleghorn asked straight out whether the Royal’s merger with the Bank of Montreal, and the Toronto Dominion Bank’s copycat arrangement with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, were going to be allowed to proceed. "No," Martin said simply. Cleghorn, according to both banking and federal government sources, said something along the lines of "No, but . . . ?" or "Unless what?" Martin repeated his first answer. "No." This was when the usually composed banker lost it, according to government officials. Watching a year’s work sacrificed to what the bankers see as political expediency and parochialism was apparently too much to swallow. His face grew red and he pounded the table, while giving the minister an earful. For once in his life, Martin remained ice-cool. As Cleghorn gave vent to his complaints, all the finance minister said was: "John, you’re not listening to me." Sources close to Martin say he repeated this phrase several times before Cleghorn calmed down.