Thank you for that. We just did a panel with the hospitality industry. They also found that the proposal made a lot of sense. In fact, they thought that it was the best suggestion made so far. We continue to press the government to put that into place for May 1.
Another issue that has come up with small businesses, of course, is that of credit card fees, interest charges and lines of credit. Small businesses are going deeper and deeper into debt.
The credit union sector has stepped up. Many credit unions have brought their credit card and lines of credit rates down to zero. The big banks simply have not. There have been only cosmetic changes by them, though they seem to be running ads 24-7 on television. As a result, we're seeing mortgage deferrals with interest, fees and penalties. We're not seeing the big banks step up at all.
How important is it that the federal government take action and use the powers it has to ensure that we bring interest rates down to a level that allows small businesses to survive? The banks have said they'll follow federal direction. They've received none so far. How important is it for the federal government to act in this regard? My question is again for Mr. Kelly.