Finance committee  As we've experienced over many years, there have been so many examples of people taking out a loan without knowing how expensive it was. It can create a debt trap for people. It's very difficult to move forward financially when people are struggling with those debt payments. We believe that lowering the criminal rate of interest can create better opportunities for people to access affordable and fair financial services and products.

Finance committee  That's someone with a lot more hair than me, that's for sure.

Finance committee  It is really important for community organizations to provide fair and honest information about different forms of financial services. Working with Prosper, a number of organizations across the country have contributed to growing the field of what we call “financial empowerment”.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to speak with you and the committee today. Momentum was grateful to see important steps to improve the financial inclusion of Canadians in the budget. Momentum is a community organization in Calgary that connects people living on low incomes to economic opportunity.