OTTAWA –
Today, Senator Pierrette Ringuette responds to the release of a study by the
Senate Standing Committee on National Finance recommending the removal of the
one cent coin from circulation.
Senator
Ringuette has released the following statement:
“While I do
agree with the majority of the study’s conclusions, I do wish to express my
regret that the Committee did not take in account certain testimony in regards
to the study’s recommendations.
The
Committee is recommending that the government promote after-tax rounding to the
nearest 5¢ of the total for cash transactions only, however I have
repeatedly raised objections to this recommendation as I believe that rounding
should not discriminate between payment methods.
By only
applying rounding to cash transactions, this will have a number of potential
impacts that were not properly addressed in the study.
We had heard
testimony from numerous witnesses that brought up these concerns including the
impact it may have on consumer payment option patterns, potential conflicts
with Quebec’s accurate pricing laws, and confusion at the cashier due to two
different prices.
It could be
unfair to those who do not have access to alternative methods of payment.
A few cents
may seem like a small amount to some, but a few cents can add up when consumers
make a large number of smaller transactions each day. Is it not this very
government that thought a couple cents saved on a cup of coffee from the GST
would invigorate the economy?
And as one
witness noted, changes of a few cents have changed consumer patterns before and
may happen with these changes as well.
As this report is read by Members
of Parliament and the government makes its decision on what to do with the
penny, I want them to read the transcript from the committee meetings, in
particular the testimony of Gaston
Lafleur (Conseil quebecois du commerce de detail), Diane J. Brisebois (Retail Council of Canada), and David Wilkes (Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors) on September
28th, 2010.
I ask them to get the full testimony and take the time
to consider the implications of applying rounding to cash transactions only.”
A full transcript of the Standing Senate Committee on
National Finance for September 28th can be found at:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/40/3/parlbus/commbus/senate/Com-e/fina-e/pdf/17issue.pdf