CONSUMER TOWNHALLEdmonton, April 2013

Depending on the issue, consumer issues can fall to:

Industry Canada

Health Canada

Transport Canada

Finance Canada / FCAC

CRTC

Competition Bureau

The NDP believes in introducing a single Consumer Affairs department to protect Canadians.

Protecting Consumers

Canadians face some of the highest wireless fees according to the OECD.

There is current CRTC process ongoing which is looking at implementing a mandatory code of conduct for wireless carriers.

NDP Proposals for the code include:

Limiting cell phone contracts to two years

Text alerts for additional services occurring costs

A monetary penalty system to ensure carriers comply

The NDP is also calling for increase rural rollout with the auction of new wireless spectrum.

Wireless

Price fixing is a big problem at the pumps. In 2012, the Competition Bureau made eight different announcements regarding guilty verdicts against gas companies for price fixing in four communities in Quebec and two in Ontario.

One investigation in Quebec has lead to guilty verdicts for 17 individuals and 10 gas station companies.

This is likely just the tip of the iceberg. Charges are unlikely to be laid unless participants work with the Competition Bureau.

Guilty verdicts help, but they do nothing to reimburse consumers who lose out due to price fixing; rather, we need to stop price fixing from happening the first place.

The NDP is proposing a Gas Price Ombudsman, who could work proactively, and on tips from consumers, to stop price fixing.

Gas Price Collusion

Credit card fees hit Canadians twice:

People carrying debt are charged interest rates that can be as high as 30%.

Secondly, the high cost to small business of processing credit cards is passed onto all consumers in the form of higher prices.

The NDP has produced an ‘Orange Paper’ to look at ways to better regulate credit cards, such as:

Banning the practice of continuing to charge interest on credit card debt which has been paid off until the complete balance is cleared

Allowing merchants to refuse high costs credit cards that drive up cost for everyone

Legislating that interest is charged on a pro-rated daily rate

Credit Cards

The average cost to a bank for carrying out an ATM withdrawal in the United States is 30c.

Yet, in Canada, consumers can be charged a few dollars - by both their own bank and the other bank – to use another bank’s ATM.

While we understand that there is a cost to these withdrawals, the NDP wants to cap this rate to ensure that banks are not treating ATM users as a cash cow.

ATM Fees