Madam Speaker, we can see how it has evolved over time. If we asked the credit card companies that question, they will say all sorts of things. They will say that everything is serious and that nothing must change. However, when we consider how the situation has evolved over time and compare ourselves to other countries, as the member pointed out, there is no rationale for this. The rationale, as we learned in economics 101, is that the credit card companies control the market via a duopoly, an oligopoly, a quasi-duopoly. This allows them to pad their bottom line a lot more.
The government has the power to step in and change that. I would remind the House that former Liberal MP Linda Lapointe introduced a bill on this subject. The government rebuffed her several times before appointing her parliamentary secretary, which meant that her bill could no longer be debated in the House. The government chose to side with the credit card companies over merchants, grocery stores and consumers.