Mr. Speaker, on November 13, Quebec City merchants and business people met in Baie de Beauport to discuss problems caused by the credit card transaction fees they have to pay.
The Coalition québécoise contre la hausse des frais de transaction par carte de crédit et de débit spelled out the facts to those attending the meeting. Since 2008, transaction fees paid by merchants have skyrocketed, and more importantly, managing the different types of cards has become a nightmare.
This coalition includes associations and groups of business people representing 35,000 members working in the food, retail, hotel and restaurant industries.
The coalition has been clear: the code of conduct for the credit and debit card industry is a complete failure, and the Conservative government has given in to powerful special interest lobbies. Business people no longer want to be at the mercy of the credit card companies' oligopoly. Business people want action. Last Tuesday evening, they realized that an NDP government will listen to them and act to help them.