Mr. Chair, let me say again that there is none so deaf as those who will not hear. As I pointed out a few times, I was saying that credit cards had a 60% rate. Like Mrs. Madeleine Plamondon, the independent senator who sponsored Bill S-19, I argue that if we were to reduce the criminal interest rate from 60% to 37% or 38%, it would have a general impact on the overall loan structure and would eventually lead to much more reasonable interest rates.
Indeed, the maximum amount of the criminal interest rate does have an impact on the overall loan structure. If we could reduce the rate, the interest rates on credit cards, currently at 28% or 30%, could drop to 2%, 3% or 5%, because the maximum would have been reduced. This is the message we need to convey. Why is the government having a take-note debate if it does not want to change anything? It is beyond comprehension.
There is another remark that I do not appreciate. When someone has a debt of $1,500, but it is indicated on his or her credit account that the maximum is $50, and that he or she should not have the right to be part of the economic system, I find this deplorable. However, these are citizens, people with qualities and faults and whom we have to deal with. We must also allow them to improve their knowledge. Our recommendation is that the maximum amount of the debt be indicated on the part of the payment that is returned. This would allow people to know exactly how much they owe.
This type of behaviour is unacceptable on the part of a member who represents a government that wasted $100 million of the $250 million that went into the sponsorship program.
When we have a problem such as this in our sector, it would be better, before blaming someone else, to take a look at the unacceptable behaviour there has been. In fact, when people who are in a difficult situation regarding their credit look at what the federal government has done with their money, they have a lot of trouble accepting this.
I think that the government representative should apologize for his condescending attitude, because, in a take note debate, this type of behaviour seems totally unacceptable to me. We have a responsibility in society, and it is not only to deal with people who are independent, who have money and who are able to fend for themselves. We must allow others also to fend for themselves. This is the heart of the issue. We must educate these people and allow them to borrow at reasonable terms. The government's attitude in this regard is totally irresponsible.