[...] At the heart of [central bank governor David] Dodge's comments was the call for a single national securities regulator to replace all the provincial and territorial bodies.

'We need a national regulator. It's an idea whose time came years and years ago,' said Thomas Caldwell, chairman of Caldwell Financial Ltd., a Toronto investment firm. Canada's multiple securities regulators have made it expensive in efficient for investors, he said.

Foreigners interested in investing in Canada are, indeed, put off by the various levels of securities regulations, Myers agreed. 'Canada's patchwork regulation is more in line with the 1960s than an economy in the 21st century,' he said.

'If Canada cannot show the world it has a single regulator that is effectively enforcing regulations and meeting the standards of international capital markets, even Canadian companies may go elsewhere to raise capital.'"