That is one of the reasons we wanted to have this review that the minister is undertaking, to get all the facts onto the table. When we hear from our members that they see their bills going up, the question is why. As well, when we look at other jurisdictions, the numbers are more favourable than they are here in Canada. Again, why is that the case?
There were commitments made by the credit card companies under the code of conduct introduced by the previous government. We've certainly felt that the code of conduct was a step in the right direction, but there were certain commitments, particularly around bringing their rates down and demonstrating a clear, open, and transparent audit. That hasn't happened to date, and one of the things we've asked is, why not?
I think that is one of the reasons the minister is doing the review, because when the announcement came out from Visa and Mastercard in September 2016, the information that they were to provide they did not provide. The natural question, then, is why they can't do it in Canada. From our perspective, payments are an important area, certainly for our members. For many independent, family-run operations, costs continue to go up. Is there a way to bring these costs down, and if they have done it in other jurisdictions, can we look at doing it here in Canada? That is why this review is so critical.