Industry committee  On a cap, whether floating or hard, we don't know what the effect would be. I can tell you that if the government moved close to doing it, I believe the banks and the other credit card issuers would say they're going to cut off half the customers who have credit cards currently b

Finance committee  No. I believe I was actually speaking about caps overall, whether they're floating caps or hard caps. It's possible to set a cap, but first you need to know what the profit levels are of the companies involved. That's why we're calling--not just for that reason but overall--for

Finance committee  On a cap, whether floating or hard, we don't know what the effect would be. I can tell you that if the government moved close to doing it, I believe the banks and the other credit card issuers would say they're going to cut off half the customers who have credit cards currently b

Industry committee  Yes, I will. Our estimate is that consumers provide $200 million in annual costs to financial industry advocacy efforts. We are asking for three simple things. Yes, you can cap credit card interest rates, but you need an independent audit first, which should go back at least

Finance committee  Yes, I will. Our estimate is that consumers provide $200 million in annual costs to financial industry advocacy efforts. We are asking for three simple things. Yes, you can cap credit card interest rates, but you need an independent audit first, which should go back at least

Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. My name is Duff Conacher. I am the coordinator of Democracy Watch and chairperson of the Canadian Community Reinvestment Coalition. Thank you for the invitation to appear today on this very important topic, which essentially amounts to corporate responsibil

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. My name is Duff Conacher. I am the coordinator of Democracy Watch and chairperson of the Canadian Community Reinvestment Coalition. Thank you for the invitation to appear today on this very important topic, which essentially amounts to corporate responsibil

Finance committee  The committee is missing two key pieces of information, and as a result, I don't think it can make any recommendations that would actually solve any of the problems we are raising, in reality. Those two key pieces of information are these: what does it actually cost the banks to

Finance committee  You also need to look at the effects on competition and whether there actually is competition in many areas of the country for banking service providers that are providing services in the ways that Canadians want to bank. When you look at those, I think you will find monopolies a

Finance committee  The lowering of one fee will just be replaced by the banks' adding a new fee or increasing other fees. The banks have said that, although the bank official who said that to The Globe and Mail did not want to be named. As a result, the only solution is to regulate the banks as pro

Finance committee  Perhaps I could just say one other sentence. The overall solution is an audit, looking at what happened in the past 15 years and annually in the future. If that audit is not done, nothing that you recommend will protect consumers, nothing will hold the banks accountable, and th

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and committee members, for this opportunity to present on this important topic, which may seem like small change to some people. Certainly the banks try to make everybody think that it's just about small change. But it's actually a very important

Finance committee  That may come from a credit union from another province, for example.

Finance committee  Yes, 98% is everything, according to the CPA.

Finance committee  CPA will be able to give you those figures in detail, of course. It's a barrier, among many others, that has to be removed. It's almost too late. We have a two-tier banking system because the federal government has allowed it and facilitated it. It shouldn't be a two-tiered ban