Mr. Chairman, in Quebec, this comes under the Office de la protection du consommateur, and the maximum rate is, I believe, in the order of 35 per cent rather than 60 per cent. As a result, in reality, there are no payday loans, because no one in that industry wants to get into this type of business. At 35 per cent, it just doesn't pay. There has to be a payoff, you have to be able to charge interest rates of up to 50, 55 and 60 per cent. I certainly wouldn't want to prevent the rest of Canada from doing whatever it wants to do about this, but I'd like to make sure that the text as drafted clearly indicates... It says: [...] to amend the Criminal Code to provide for the exemption of payday loans from section 347 of the Criminal Code in circumstances where provincial regulation of the payday lending industry has been established, and a request for such an exemption made.
In Quebec, we could make a request for exemption based on the fact that the Office de la protection du consommateur has called for the maximum rate to be 35 per cent instead of 60 per cent. However, if I'm not mistaken, there is no provincial regulation on the payday lending industry. In Quebec, the motion as it stands could have the opposite effect of what was intended. Although the maximum interest rate is 35 per cent and there are no payday loans, we could be forced to apply the code because we have no regulation given that the bar has already been set through the interest rate. I would like this matter clarified.
The purpose of the motion is to allow a province that has regulated the payday lending industry to have an exemption. Quebec has not established such regulation because the maximum interest rate is set by the Office de la protection du consommateur. I would like this matter clarified so that we don't end up in a situation other than what was intended.