Finance committee  Thank you, MP Morrice. I think that's really well put. It's definitely connected with the lack of a living wage, I would say. A lot of people with disabilities are forced into deep poverty because of a lack of or very inadequate or abysmal supports from provinces. That's exactl

Finance committee  We fully support this move. We hope that the government can act fast and also ensure that it promises a living wage and not just the kind of assistance that we see across the provinces, which is pushing persons with disabilities into deeper poverty.

Finance committee  Thank you, MP Morrice. One of the biggest arguments posed by the Canadian Lenders Association is that this industry will cease to exist and that borrowers will have to go to loan sharks. We've maintained, as you mentioned, that in Quebec the interest rate is already capped at 35

Finance committee  Sure. We are mostly in agreement with the draft regulations, except for the fact that there was an exemption specifically mentioned with respect to pawn loans, for which the amount is equivalent to $1,500 or $1,000, as I recall, or lower. We spoke to a lot of ACORN members abou

Finance committee  What we did learn from the last fall economic statement is that the federal government wants to put a cap of $14 per $100 on the fee for payday loans. Obviously, that's a positive move, but it's still high. Obviously, $15 per $100 is equivalent to 400% or 500% APR. That's still a

Finance committee  We haven't specifically. Obviously, we don't have the numbers to cite, but as I said in my initial remarks, we did a survey back in 2023 of 623 of our community contacts. A lot of our members resort to payday loans and instalment loans, which are high-cost loans. This is exactly

Finance committee  One of the measures that Prosper Canada has also been recommending is automatic tax filing. That's something that will really help a lot of Canadians, low-income Canadians especially—especially those with children—who currently don't have access to those tax benefits. They would

Finance committee  Donna, do you want to say something?

Finance committee  Obviously, we are seeing a jump in the uptake of instalment loans. When we did the survey in 2016 and then did it in 2021, there was a 300% uptake in instalment loans. Instalments loans are definitely becoming popular. That's exactly why we want this move to go ahead. Instalment

Finance committee  Thank you. I don't think I understood the question correctly. ACORN's belief is that, at least when it comes to basic services, especially housing and income security, the government has a primary role to play. We've seen what's happened to housing when we leave it to the marke

Finance committee  We do know, at least in this space, that more government intervention is the right answer.

Finance committee  The predatory lending industry is not going to solve this problem. It's only going to push people into more poverty.

Finance committee  Yes, but that can only happen when people have basic needs met.

Finance committee  Thank you. We've been pushing for a fair credit benefit. That's something that the federal government could do. That could be administered by the banks or by a non-profit agency. As Ms. Mulholland stated in her remarks, Good Shepherd in Australia has provided a good alternative

Finance committee  We believe that this is really a false claim. Like I said, when we were pushing to lower the fee for payday loans, it was the same argument—that people will be forced to go to loan sharks and that this industry will cease to exist—but none of that happened. The payday lending ind