Mr. Chair, it is a real honour to approach a subject tonight which is very much in the practical sense, not to imply that anything and everything else we do here is not practical.
This is a very relevant question, particularly around Christmastime, as many consumers will take out their plastic, take out their cards, make purchases and perhaps come to regret them later. It may be the amount of the purchase they will regret and not necessarily the purchase or the giving of the gift itself.
This is a topic that has a very practical and direct relevance and which we as parliamentarians should address and interact on, even if we do not put forward or bring out legislation from this debate.
This is very important, because the educational aspect, the empowering of consumers, is one of the most mighty things that we can do when it comes to credit cards and purchasing by credit. When I was looking through some data today in preparation for an outline of this speech, I noted that approximately $156 billion, according to the numbers that I read, is spent every year through credit cards in this country. That is an immense sum.
One of the other things I noted in going through the data, looking at its relevance and trying to see how this actually does apply to people in their day to day lives, was the amount of credit card fraud. While it is somewhat small when compared to the $156 billion, in the neighbourhood of $200 million it is significant. It is one of the reasons that the banks often give for their higher interest rates.
I have to admit, though, I tend to be skeptical of all lawyers and all bankers.