For Immediate Release
October 16th, 2013
More meaningless words from Stephen Harper on consumer issues, Canadians want action and they want it now
OTTAWA – Stephen Harper has once again paid meaningless lip service to putting ‘’consumers first’ in his latest Speech from the Throne.
More and more talk, but where are the actions to back it up?
The conservative government has continually failed to address the very important issue of high credit card merchant fees.
This is not some issue that Canadians have suddenly discovered, they have demanded action for years and years, but all the government has done is throw together a do-nothing voluntary code of conduct.
There have been numerous bills over the last few years that could have addressed this issue long ago, including Senator Ringuette’s repeatedly tabled bill to set limits on credit card merchant fees.
This bill would provide real relief for Canadian businesses and consumers, to the tune of over $5 billion a year if we set limits similar to those already found in countries around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Europe.
But the Harper government has not embraced the bill; they have repeatedly killed it through prorogation after prorogation.
“The Harper government claims to put consumers first, but that is not what I have seen,” said Senator Ringuette.
“This government has ignored the pleas of Canadians to take real, tangible action on this file and they have swept aside workable proposals that have been put before them in parliament. Instead, we have a voluntary code of conduct that does nothing, that has no means of enforcement to hold the companies accountable to Canadians. I’m tabling my bill again, Mr. Harper doesn’t have to lift a finger, I have done the work for him, he just needs to take a stand with Canadians and actually put consumers first for once by passing my bill.”
For more information:
Tim Rosenburgh
Office of Senator Pierrette Ringuette
rosent@sen.parl.gc.ca
(613) 943-2248