Mr. Speaker, in this House today and previously, we have heard a lot about all of the consultation that went into this process, but let me start by talking about the process.
I believe that the members across the aisle missed a magnificent opportunity when they addressed this bill by focusing only on its technical and very narrow aspects or revisions. This was their opportunity to address the banking legislation and our financial statutes in a significant way.
Be that as it may, they erred very seriously when it came to process. First of all, this legislation has come from the other house, the Senate, which only had three weeks to consider it. Then the legislation came over here with all kinds of time allocations and was then sent off to committee. It is with a great deal of distress that I read that even at the committee stage, there were only three sessions. I know many people at home are going to think that each session lasts a day, but each committee session is only two hours long.
To do a detailed study of a very technical bill, and I am not a very technical person, and to look at its implications and to examine it and make amendments, a total of only four hours was provided. Out of the three days the bill was before committee, one was to hear from witnesses. I really cannot understand how my colleagues sitting across this aisle can see this as truly democratic and transparent. How can they disrespect the parliamentary system so much, not only by calling time allocation over and over again but also by then cutting debate short at the committee stage?
I have heard the argument that the timing of this bill is sensitive and that a clock is ticking. I also know that the government could have tabled this legislation as soon after May 2 as it could, but it choose not to do so because at no time did it want to give either the public or the opposition a chance to study this legislation in any detail.
Not only that but I also heard earlier from a very well-respected speaker from across the aisle, who shares a panel with me every Thursday, about the consultation that had occurred. However, when I looked at the consultation report, most of those inputs by email were anonymous. Since when have we started to take and pay heed to anonymous input on significant pieces of legislation that actually address our banking industry? It is just so bizarre. Plus, this kind of consultation was by invitation only. Let us not pretend that real consultation took place.
Let me recap. Time allocation pushed things through; the legislation went to the Senate first; consultation was practically non-existent; and the committee stage was cut short, with no serious time given.
What are the Conservatives trying to hide in this legislation? I believe what they were trying to hide is what they have not addressed in the legislation, something that concerns Canadians right across this beautiful country. One thing they have not addressed is the regulations around the ever-growing debtload that Canadians are being burdened with because of the economy and the lack of decent paying jobs in Canada. Indeed, we seem to be giving our jobs away to other countries. Where there were jobs that used to pay a decent wage at one time, now there are $9 and $10 an hour jobs. We know it is hard to sustain a family on that kind of an income.
Families are really taking on more and more debt, and we are not paying attention. I have learned from an analysis done of the debt load of Canadians that in some cases family debt is as high as 151% of disposable income. That is disturbing. It surpasses the debt load of Americans before a collapse in their economy. We should be addressing that, and so this is a missed opportunity.
What is also adding to consumers' debt load is not the fact they choose to buy big entertainment systems or super-duper cars. Rather, it is because of the lack of decent paying jobs, which have left this country because of the government's policies, that many people are struggling and trying to make ends meet from paycheque to paycheque and are reliant on their credit cards. The banks, through credit card interest charges, are gouging Canadians. They pay next to nothing in interest to those who are fortunate enough to have money to put in the bank, and they think nothing about charging 18% or more in interest on credit cards. That is a shame and a golden opportunity that the government has once again missed addressing. It has failed Canadians in a significant way.
I want to quote one of the witnesses who came before committee in the two hours allotted to them. Tyler Sommers, a coordinator for the Canadian Community Reinvestment Coalition, questioned why the government had not done more for consumer protection. He said the following:
Canada's big six banks have reported new record first-quarter profits totalling over $7 billion, which is up 5.3% compared to 2011, and have done this while raising bank fees and cutting jobs in this sector....
Shame on us that we have failed to address this issue now. I say that because the government has not given us the opportunity to debate this in the House and to take action on it.
Duff Conacher from the CCRC has explained that past government actions have been ineffective in ensuring that Canada's big banks and other companies are not making excessive profits from gouging customers and cutting services, and they are failing to lend to job-creating Canadian businesses.
I do not know about all members, but most of us now use either Interac or online banking, which would make us think that has led to the loss of many jobs. However, have the related bank charges gone down? Have the credit card charges gone down? Absolutely not. Those costs keep going up. The government had a golden opportunity during the debate on this legislation to address that in a significant way.
Our banking industry has survived because of regulation. While consumer debt is going up and consumers are being penalized by banks because they have no disposable income and are living from paycheque to paycheque and are having to use their credit cards to buy food to put on their table, we know that this government has once again failed to address those high interest rates.
To sum up, there are citizens in my riding who had high hopes that the government would address the key issues facing them. Instead, it has once again turned its back on middle-class, working-class and struggling families and failed to provide them the protection they were looking for in this legislation.