Finance committee  Yes it was. It affected several types of services, but in the area of telecommunications, for example, if consumers forgot to call their cable distributors a month before the end of the agreement, the agreement was automatically renewed. Obviously, many consumers forgot the expiry date of the agreement, which is normal, given that agendas rarely cover more than two consecutive years.

Finance committee  Yes, certainly. It is a minimum. Why was it authorized in the first place? That is the question. How could companies have been allowed to withdraw money from peoples' bank accounts without their authorization? It was completely illogical. At least now, we are back to a minimally acceptable situation.

Finance committee  If we compare the situation in Canada to that of the United States, we can see that the American system is very different, but that there are also some similarities. The difference should favour Canadians. Our banking system is relatively well spread out from coast to coast. Financial institutions have branches all across the country.

Finance committee  Yes, it is better.

Finance committee  Of course, I want to work with you, and of course, I would like to help you. When I came here I didn't know we would have so much time, and I appreciate that from you, because this is probably the most valuable thing we have in life. Thank you for your time. If you go down your list, I will tell you what is good and where it could be improved.

Finance committee  Of course they're good. People were buying things. The thing is, in Quebec, it has been there for a while. It's good. It is fine, but we need to make sure it's respected. But let's go down your list.

Finance committee  It's a good measure. It's good because of the way it's calculated. The problem was you didn't know what you were paying, and if the interest started when you paid or the last time you had a statement. Now it's more encadré, more regulated, and it's a step forward.

Finance committee  Indeed, consumers would receive cheques but did not know when they would have to begin paying interest. This is also an incentive to use credit. But as we know, Canadian consumers carry heavy debt loads. So should we encourage them to go deeper into debt by sending preauthorized cheques to their home?

Finance committee  As concerns banking fees, Canadian financial institutions made a commitment to the Department of Finance to offer accounts with moderate fees. As you know, Canadians generally have access to accounts that allow for between 7 and 10 transactions at a monthly fee of $3. However, we know very well that Canadian consumers perform much more than 7 to 10 transactions per month.

Finance committee  Yes, but I would say that consumers have lost hope that governments will take real action to reduce the fees that financial institutions levy. Perhaps that is why we receive fewer complaints from consumers on this topic.

Finance committee  We wrote memos on many measures that were introduced. You touched on the credit card cheques, and the reduced period of access to your money. That's a very good step forward for Canadian consumers, of course. The amount of money that Canadian consumers can access is also a good step forward.

Finance committee  That's the main thing. I can use my time for five minutes to say what was good, but I'm here to say this big part unfortunately is not there.

Finance committee  If you want to talk about credit, you are opening the door very wide to one of the main concerns that our organization has been focusing on for 25 years. I am going to focus on two main issues. First of all, credit card interest rates are clearly too high, particularly when you consider that the prime lending rate has never been so low.

Finance committee  Not on this matter. We are very active in Quebec because the Consumer Protection Act is currently being reviewed. We have been very involved in Quebec on this issue, but less so at the federal level.

Finance committee  That is a very good observation. In fact, we are not here to attack every aspect of Bill S-5. We are not here to review the entire bill. We have five minutes, and then we have one-minute discussion periods. We have focused on that one aspect which, in our opinion, is the most important one.