Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to thank all our witnesses for being with us today.
I'll start with you, Mr. White.
I must admit I'm a bit tired of hearing the Liberals say, as Mr. Gaheer just did, that the government negotiated agreements with credit card companies to lower interchange fees, as if the Liberal government cared in any way about the interchange fees paid by Canadians.
Mr. White, I would like you to tell me if I fully grasp what happened with interchange fees.
As I understand it, the government has never negotiated for a single minute with the credit card companies. It has only threatened to regulate them. Also, I think it's a lie to characterize what happened between Mastercard, Visa and the government as agreements. I think it's more of an expectation on the part of the government. The government made a threat, and Visa and Mastercard made a temporary offer over five years. The government backed down, and we ended up with temporary agreements with no regulations and no real permanent progress for Canadians who are paying these hidden fees.
Am I correct in saying that the government has not negotiated, that the agreements are not permanent and that the problem has not been resolved in the long term?