Finance Committee on April 29th, 2010

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

I see. I just wonder why it's not included in our briefing materials here. It's not here. It's not in this part. It's not a statute.

[Leah Anderson]

It's not part of the bill per se.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

I understand that. Will the code—because that's where the real guts of this matter are—deal with this negative option billing problem that the merchants identified? We enhance the credit card and pass the costs along to the merchant, and the merchant essentially has no choice about accepting that.

[Leah Anderson]

There is an element that deals with that. It requires explicit consumer consent for them to get a new card that could potentially have higher fees for the merchant.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Okay.

Related to Mr. Ménard's issue, one of the issues that was raised had to do with the fact that you could pay your bill electronically on time, but by the time the clearances went through, between this, that, and the other thing, you were late. Does the code address that issue?

[Leah Anderson]

Largely, this is much more focused on the business practices of networks and merchants per se, so it doesn't touch on that issue.

[Serge Ménard, Bloc, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

That's 15 days ahead.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Exactly.

You end up paying three or four days ahead.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Massimo Pacetti]

Okay, Mr. McKay. Focus.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. You're very helpful that way. I actually preferred the previous chair.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Massimo Pacetti]

I'm sure you did.

Members, on parts 13, 14, 15, and all the way to 17, are we okay?

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

Which part are we on now?

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Massimo Pacetti]

We're on part 13.

Mr. Carrier.

[Robert Carrier, Bloc, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Part 13 strengthens the mandate of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada for greater protection of consumers. In Quebec, we have a government agency called the Office de la protection du consommateur that has been in existence since 1971 and whose mandate is to educate the public on all aspects of consumer protection and to receive and investigate complaints.

I wonder if in your part 13 the jurisdictional aspect has been properly analyzed. Are we not overstepping on provincial jurisdiction by adding consumer protection to the mandate of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada? Has this been looked at from the perspective of power sharing? Could this cause disputes between levels of government?

[Pascale Dugré-Sasseville]

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada has been in existence since 2001. It has always been responsible for ensuring compliance with the consumer protection provisions of the federal laws governing financial institutions and for promoting financial education and literacy.

The proposed amendments do not change anything in that regard and do not change the scope of the agency's mandate. Essentially, these amendments allow the agency to collect and pass on information to government to enable it to develop policies and eventually laws and regulations to better protect consumers of financial services.

The proposed amendments allow the agency to collect somewhat more proactively a range of data in order to better inform the whole public policy development process and possibly, if required, facilitate laws and regulations. It does not change anything in the discussion that has been ongoing since 2001 regarding the relationship between FCAC and the Office de la protection du consommateur du Québec.

[Robert Carrier, Bloc, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

So you are saying that the bottom line is that the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada deals with federal legislation. This is where the line is drawn between the two levels of government, right?

[Pascale Dugré-Sasseville]

Absolutely. FCAC will very specifically monitor compliance with consumer protection provisions of the Bank Act, the Trust and Loan Companies Act, the Insurance Company Act and the Cooperative Credit Associations Act.

[Robert Carrier, Bloc, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Very well, thank you.

[Le vice-président, Liberal, Massimo Pacetti]

Are there any questions or comments on part 14? On part 15?

We have 15 minutes.

Yes, Mr. McKay? What part are you dealing with?

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

I'm assuming that you've rushed on in your haste to part 14. Is that where we are now?

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Massimo Pacetti]

We've only been here for an hour and three-quarters.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Well, you may have to stay a little longer.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Massimo Pacetti]

It's not haste; it's called moving it along.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

So we are on “Proceeds of Crime”?

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Massimo Pacetti]

We are.