Mr. Speaker, it has now been over a year since the Competition Tribunal found that the credit card fees that Canadian businesses have to pay are excessive and unfair and that more coercive regulation is needed.
When I recently asked the minister what he intended to do to remedy this situation, he spoke about a voluntary code of conduct, since he is in favour of voluntary measures. Unfortunately, that is not enough.
We cannot let companies make their own rules. Clearly, the government needs to legislate in the public interest in order to lower prices for consumers and help our struggling SMEs.
The government's announcement once again shows that it is not prepared to introduce concrete measures to reduce these fees, which incidentally cost Canadian consumers and SMEs over $5 billion a year.
A 10% reduction is far too little to result in lower prices for consumers. In fact, the minister announced a 10% reduction. That is not enough to have an effect on the goods we buy. Consumers will not benefit, and I think it is important to say that. The reduction announced earlier this week is not a step in the right direction.
While the government is patting itself on the back for this 10% reduction, in the last two years alone, Visa and MasterCard have boosted credit card transaction fees by about 25%. Canada will also continue to have the highest interchange fees in the world, and that is no small matter. The government is not proposing any measures to address that.
The NDP agrees with the Competition Tribunal, which found that Visa and MasterCard engage in anti-competitive practices by charging excessive fees. The tribunal asked the government to take action. However, it chose instead to ask the credit card companies, which are already very greedy, to make voluntary changes. That is shameful and makes no sense. It is futile and will yield no results.
If you need further proof, you only have to look at the official statement issued by Visa. This very important statement stated the following:
If Visa or our clients are disadvantaged as a result of entering into this undertaking [these voluntary measures], Visa reserves the right at any time to terminate or amend it.
This is a concrete example of the limits of a voluntary measure. We can be happy that Visa and MasterCard are moving forward and seem prepared to make some concessions, be accommodating and truly give consumers and small businesses more breathing room. However, at any time, for whatever reason, they can decide to terminate this arrangement.
We will end up right back where we started, debating this topic and wondering what should be done. We need legislation, which is what we are calling for today.
The Association des marchands dépanneurs et épiciers du Québec, or AMDEQ, had a very interesting response. This association of convenience and grocery store owners is somewhat satisfied with the federal government's decision to bring MasterCard and Visa credit card user fees to an average rate of 1.5%, but much remains to be done to bring our rates in line with those in Australia and Europe, which are around 0.5%.
AMDEQ has some concerns about the fact that this agreement is voluntary. It now wants an oversight mechanism to be put in place and an annual audit to be conducted so as to ensure that the two major credit card companies abide by the agreement announced today.
It is also important to point out that AMDEQ would have liked to see a much more substantial drop in the rate, and it is calling on the Minister of Finance to form a special parliamentary committee to ensure that all parties involved in this issue can have a say.
I think that is indeed worthwhile. It can be discussed in committee.
What does my colleague opposite think of that proposal?