Mr. Speaker, I remember the onion skin paper. In some stores in small towns in Ontario, especially where I come from, we still see that onion skin paper.
There was a list of defaulted cards at one time and there was a fee. I suggest that the fee the credit card companies charge small businesses is overblown. If we let them creep into the debit card market, that fee will go even higher. Owners of small businesses in my riding tell me not to let this happen. They tell me that we need to talk to the credit card companies to ensure the fees are kept down, and we need to continue do that.
My hon. colleague is also right about the fact that at one time if people paid $10 or $20 in cash, they would receive a discount. Back then they were asked by the retailer if they wanted to pay cash or use credit. It was a phrase often heard at retailers and a discount was given for cash because retailers knew the cost to them.
That really is the hook. Not only have consumers been hooked, but so have businesses, to the point where people really do not want to deal with cash or cheque. They want to deal with plastic because it is easier to do transactions that way, yet we do not see a reduction in the cost to us because of the ease of the transaction.
It is all done electronically. As my colleague said, the onion skin paper is not seen any more except in a few places that I happen to visit. It is amazing technology. People can go here or there and yet they do not get the benefit of the reduced cost that the big financial institutions receive. That is a shame and it should be reversed.