Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
You are undoubtedly aware that last Tuesday, we met with people from the coalitions. These coalitions represent 250,000 businesses across the country. They are, therefore, not a negligible group.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has indeed asked for regulation to resolve its problems. CFIB representatives said that last year, 26% or 27% of credit cards used were premium cards, cards that incurred higher interchange fees, which they did not necessarily plan for in their budgets or prices. Therefore, this is a problem they are asking us to resolve.
In your presentation, you discuss the Australian model, which was also recommended to us. You claim that it has been a disaster for consumers because it has impacted credit card interest rates.
Do you have any data on that, since you claim in your presentation that there have been serious consequences on interest rates charged on unpaid balances, I presume? Do you have any documentation to support that assertion?