Finance committee  Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, thank you for inviting Option consommateurs and giving us an opportunity to express our views about automated teller machine fees. For those of you who are not familiar with our group, Option consommateurs was established in 1983. We are a

Finance committee  The scope of our proposal goes beyond banks. We're also proposing that ways to limit these fees in the private sector be examined. It's important that this issue, which is an important one for consumers be addresses by Parliament.

Finance committee  In fact, we're seeing the reverse. The more money you have, the more transactions you have and the less it will cost you. I'd like to correct one thing. Based on what Mr. Protti said, the perception of the banking system has changed a great deal in the past few years. That's qui

Finance committee  You're right. I will give the floor to Jannick in two seconds. You're right to say that some financial institutions appeared in your riding, and we see this in other ridings as well. These are generally ridings where there are people who are—

Finance committee  Yes, but if we don't give access to branches, we will see the appearance of these notorious no-name ATMs in various businesses. The consumers do—

Finance committee  The fees will go up.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I had not been notified that the committee's work schedule had been moved up, which is why I arrived late. I sincerely apologize for that. The wrong person had been notified. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, I would like to thank you for giving

Finance committee  Absolutely. I think it would be a good idea to go even further by demanding a review the Competition Act. In fact, 60% of retail trade is in the hands of four major companies: Wal-Mart, HBC, Sears, and a fourth company who's name I have forgotten. They're all listed in my notes.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. My name is Michel Arnold and I am the Executive Director of Option consommateurs. I am accompanied by Nalini Vaddapalli, who is an agri-food analyst and lawyer with Option consommateurs. Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen of the committee, I also wish to th

Agriculture committee  Actually I pretty much agree with Ms. Hillard. I think that it is important for the terms to be clearly defined and for information to be given to consumers. Regardless of the term used, whether it’s “Made in Canada” or “Product of Canada,” consumers must know precisely what the

Agriculture committee  As I said earlier in response to Mr. Boshcoff, it is very important that information be clear and precise. Consumers must have a clear idea of what the term on the label means, whether it is “Prepared in Canada,” “Product of Canada” or “Grown in Canada.” Of course, as Nalini sai

Agriculture committee  I think that we must also take into consideration the fact that close to half of the Canadian population has illiteracy problems. We must not complicate things any more. We must really tighten things up and explain what already exists.

Agriculture committee  I think the same thing as Nalini. Thank you.

Agriculture committee  No.

Agriculture committee  The important thing in what we are saying is not just the simplification, but also the clarification of the terms, what we mean by the terms put on the label.