Industry committee  I feel like I should be playing this little violin, but I'm not going to. That was a good try, Terry. Consumers will always be well served and they will always have a wide choice of products. There are lots of issuers, lots of banks out there, competing for their business, regardless if it's VISA or MasterCard.

Industry committee  I'm trying to jump in before I'm put on a plane again.

Industry committee  Thank you for the question, Monsieur Thibeault. I think that small and mid-size retailers will be back here in short order to talk about the costs associated with accepting mobile payments. The challenge is that they have very little leverage. As I mentioned earlier with regard to the code of conduct, because VISA, MasterCard, and their issuing banks were unable to circulate those cards at the point of sale, merchants said, “No, it's too expensive.

Industry committee  I'm sure you're very sympathetic.

Industry committee  I think the first thing I should do is make sure that each member of the committee receives a copy of the Industry Canada study on the state of retail in 2010. It's fairly recent. It speaks to the productivity of the retail sector in Canada, which has surpassed every other sector in information technology investment and supply chain investment.

Industry committee  I will summarize. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We went over some documents during our last presentation. I'm not sure they were circulated today, but I certainly will not go over those notes. I thought it was important to be invited again—and thank you—to comment on the voluntary code of conduct for credit and debit cards, and particularly the misleading comments made by VISA and MasterCard during their testimony.

Finance committee  As it's one of our favourite topics, I'll go first. I'll speak specifically about tariffs. There's no question that this government has moved very quickly to eliminate tariffs, mostly in the manufacturing sector and mostly with machinery and parts. What we are highlighting is the lack or the number--

Finance committee  That is extremely welcome news to merchants. As you know, with less manufacturing in the country, especially with commodity products, it means most of our members are importers. Simplifying the process not only saves them time but also an enormous amount of money. It's quite welcome.

Finance committee  First of all, we should say that retailers are pleased with the discussions that are taking place. For the first time in a long time, we're looking at truly harmonizing business practices and standards. Where it affects retail the most is in the development of standards. For example, if a certain product has regulations in the United States that are different from those in Canada, it is then difficult for retailers to purchase those goods and to sell them.

Finance committee  Mobile payments is using your cellphone or going on the Internet with your cellphone and doing a purchase, so having an app that allows you to do that with a wallet, an electronic wallet, or just scanning it.

Finance committee  Again, I seem to be repeating myself. There are two answers to that question. First, retailers, when asked, would always be against an increase in the payroll tax. However, saying that, retailers also understand that in fact a healthy system should have a reserve and should not be relying on a deficit, and the rates shouldn't be moving up and down like a yo-yo, depending on the economy.

Finance committee  On that topic, we've been part of some very interesting discussions about EI with the employer groups. I think everyone agrees that if we could have a substantial reserve fund within a short period of time, it would be the best-case scenario. But obviously it would have an impact on employers and employees.

Finance committee  There are two parts to my answer. One, the voluntary code was working, but the voluntary code was developed around a more traditional payments model, meaning looking at the payments that customers were making traditionally in-store. There was very little focus on online business, because it represented a very small portion of the entire market.

Finance committee  As most members would know, since we have appeared several times in regard to this issue, we have always asked for regulation.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We've distributed a bilingual presentation—with the blue and white RCC logo and cover—and I'll refer to it during my presentation. My name is Diane Brisebois. I am president and chief executive officer of the Retail Council of Canada. It's a privilege to appear before this committee.