Yes, I'm going to speak in French and English. Thank you.
I am the president and CEO of the Retail Council of Canada.
I also serve as co-chair of the Payments Accountability Council, which represents over 250,000 merchants across the country.
I'm joined today by my colleague, Terrance Oakey.
He is our vice-president of federal government relations.
Last year, RCC appeared before this committee, calling for some of the very measures that are now included in Bill C-9, the budget implementation act.
I want to begin my remarks by thanking this committee for the leadership you continue to show on this issue. Merchants across Canada are following this issue closely. They commend the minister and the Government of Canada for establishing a card payment regulatory framework, and for equipping the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada with the tools it needs to monitor and enforce compliance with the code of conduct changes, changes that are both contained in Bill C-9.
As you may recall, the Retail Council was criticized in some quarters for calling for a regulatory framework, while other witnesses argued that a voluntary code alone would address this issue of skyrocketing fees.