Deferral Accounts: Supreme Court decision shows need of legislative reform

OTTAWA)—The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) today dismissed the appeal launched by consumer and anti-poverty groups of the CRTC decision allocating money, intended for rate discounts on telephone bills, to fund telephone company broadband operations in uneconomic areas. Michael Janigan, executive director and general counsel of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, which backed the appeal of the Consumers Association of Canada and the National Anti-Poverty Organization noted: “The Supreme Court decision confirms the power of the CRTC to act like a mini-government, taxing the customers of one service, in this case local telephone service, to fund projects in a completely unrelated and unregulated service – broadband internet.”
Janigan noted the Court’s interpretation of the broad objectives of the Telecommunications Act giving sweeping powers to the Commission to set rates and apply rate revenues outside of the revenue requirement of the service provider was certainly not foreseen by the drafters of the Act in the 1990s.
In 2002, the CRTC decided that any rate discounts that were to be paid to customers under the price cap formula were to put in a separate account. Rates were to be kept high to encourage local competition. About $1.6 billion dollars were put into the account. Over the four year price cap period, the CRTC used the money for a variety of purposes, mostly to provide discounted access to digital networks to competitors. When competition did arise, it was primarily due to cable technology advancement not to the CRTC
schemes that required contribution only from residential telephone subscribers. In 2004, with 650 million dollars left to spend, the Commission held a proceeding to determine how to spend the money.
Its 2006 decision decided that it should be used to help the telephone companies that had been charging the excess rates with their broadband Internet operations in the areas where it was difficult to operate a financially successful service. The Commission later decided that all the money wasn’t needed for that purpose and ordered about $300 million rebated to customers. The telephone companies wanted it all.
“This is not the right way to fund broadband,” Janigan said . “The money came from residential telephone customers only. They are basically subsidizing Bell and Telus’ broadband ambitions. And, in the end, there is no particular fairness associated with the broadband funding.”

Public Interest News: Interprovincial trade / Cell complaints / Cell rates / Belus: Probable fusion / TV fees up in September / Copyright Consultation / Merchant Processing Fees / La surtaxe de carburant

Interprovincial trade and the consumer interest: New report

(PIAC 20/08/09) Next week PIAC will release “The Consumer Perspective of Trade & Commerce Powers”, a report that examines the use of federal trade and commerce powers to regulate interprovincial trade and the consumer interest in interprovincial trade.
In recent years, there have been increasing political efforts to eliminate barriers to interprovincial trade through interprovincial agreements. The focus of these agreements on eliminating interprovincial trade barriers and trade dispute resolution come at the expense of the consumer interest.
“Efforts must focus on laying down proper foundations in the market for effective competition policy in Canada,” said Janet Lo, Legal Counsel for PIAC. “Competition benefits consumers and consumers are best served when the focus of trade agreements works to improve competition in Canadian markets, not simply the removal of interprovincial trade barriers.”

Commission for Complaints for Telecommunications Services

(PIAC 20/08/09) ”’I get calls from members of Parliament about resolving telecommunications issues, and they’re unaware of the CCTS,’ says Michael Janigan, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre,” CBC News reported on Aug. 14.
The Commission was established in July 2007 to help consumers with internet and cellphone complaints. It is only now starting a publicity campaign which will include a long-standing, low-cost PIAC suggestion—printing the Commission’s contact information on customers bills.
The CBC report says CCTS director Howard Maker blames the difficulty in finding consensus between its members—which include Bell, Rogers, Telus, MTS Allstream, Shaw, Videotron and EastLink—for the long delay.
CBC’s Peter Nowak reported: ”’Janigan says it is obvious the CRTC will have to extend the mandatory membership period next year, given how long it has taken for the CCTS to get fully up and running. “It’s in no position to judge the effectiveness of popularity of it with consumers until there’s been a chance to publicize it.’”
Canadian cell phone rates among world’s worst
(PIAC 20/08/09) An OECD report released Aug. 11 suggests Canadians pay some of the highest cell phone rates in the industrialized world. Canada ranks third most expensive at 500 dollars a year followed by Spain at 508 dollars and the United States at 635 dollars, CBC National News reported.
“There’s not enough competition in the wireless market. The players, the three top players are fat and happy, and there’s very little reason for them to compete aggressively for market share,” PIAC’s Michael Janigan told CBC’s Ron Charles.

Bell-Telus: la «probable» fusion soulève des craintes

(PIAC 20/08/09) « Le spectre d’une fusion entre Bell et Telus est revenu à l’avant-scène hier, ce qui soulève des inquiétudes à Option consommateurs » La Presse a rapporté le 13 août.
« Michel Arnold, directeur général de l’organisme Option consommateurs, craint que ce soient les clients qui paient le prix d’un tel mariage. De leur poche. « Toute fusion de compagnies met en péril la concurrence qui pourrait être au bénéfice des consommateurs », a-t-il fait valoir à La Presse Affaires. »
« Michel Arnold est loin d’être convaincu que l’arrivée de nouveaux fournisseurs dans le sans-fil contrebalancera le poids immense qu’auraient ensemble Bell et Telus, » Maxime Bergeron a rapporté.

CTV urges CRTC to put brakes on TV costs

(PIAC 20/08/09) CTV posted a message on its “Save Local TV” website urging regulators to put the brakes on cable and satellite companies including Rogers and Bell, who recently announced prices will be going up 1.5 per cent on Sept. 1, CBC News reported on Aug. 12.
“Consumer groups support CTV’s position and say the competition the CRTC hoped for has not emerged. In most cases, customers have two providers to choose from at best and in many cases they have only one.
“We would like the CRTC to wake up and realize they have deregulated a monopoly,” said Michael Janigan, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. “The chickens have come home to roost. No realistic competition exists. At most, it’s a duopoly and it’s certainly a fat and happy duopoly.”
“PIAC’s Janigan said it’s unfortunate that consumers are getting stuck in the middle of a blame-game triangle and hopes the three sides can come together and hammer out a better arrangement when the LPIF (Local Program Improvement Fund) is re-examined by the CRTC in the fall.
CBC News reported Janigan said: “The way this is being conducted is with the assumption that the only pot available for contribution is from the consumer.”

Copyright Consultation: Lawful Access creeping in

(PIAC 20/08/09) The copyright consultation roundtables have now passed the midway point with four issues dominating—fair dealing, WIPO Internet treaties, fees to compensate online copying and the role of intermediaries, Michael Geist reported on Aug. 13
Geist highlighted the basic message of the 64 organizations which have presented so far including the BC Library Association, Writers Guild of Canada, Canadian Association of Broadcasters, Canadian Film and Television Production Association, Shaw Communications, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Microsoft Canada.
Geist wrote PIAC’s John Lawford stressed: “Danger of anti-circumvention without link to copyright infringement, legalize time and format shifting, favour notice-and-notice, concerned about Lawful Access creeping into copyright.”

Merchant Processing Fees: Safeguards needed

(PIAC 20/08/09) PIAC is supporting efforts to take on the banks over escalating credit card merchant processing fees.
“We have great difficulty reconciling the increase in costs faced by (Canadian travel agencies) with the risks associated with the extension of credit or the costs associated,” Michael Janigan, wrote in a letter to the Presidents of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses and the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies.
“PIAC has, in the past, taken issue with the level of competition and lack of a level playing field in the financial services market. We believe that these problems are particularly acute in relation to the terms upon which merchants must accept credit cards from the issuing banks. There would appear to be a necessity to implement safeguards to ensure reasonable terms and conditions between stakeholder,” Janigan wrote on Aug. 7.

Option consommateurs: la surtaxe de carburant

(PIAC 20/08/09) « Option consommateurs s’est joint à la requête pour autorisation d’exercer un recours collectif contre deux transporteurs aériens qui ont admis avoir fixé le prix de la surtaxe de carburant, British Airways et Virgin Atlantic Airways, » la Presse Canadienne a rapporté le 4 août.
« En mai 2004, ces transporteurs ont introduit une nouvelle composante à leurs tarifs pour le transport de passagers: la surtaxe de carburant. Ils prétendaient réagir ainsi aux augmentations de leurs coûts de carburant.
Les deux transporteurs se seraient consultés plusieurs fois afin de fixer le prix de la surtaxe de carburant, entre août 2004 et février 2006. Option consommateurs écrit que le prix de la surtaxe est passé d’environ 6 $ en août 2004 à 60 $ en février 2006.
« Option consommateurs estime que le cartel mis en place par les deux transporteurs a eu pour effet de gonfler artificiellement le prix des billets achetés par les membres du recours. prix de base des billets, » la Presse Canadienne a rapporté.

Public Interest News: Globalive / Net throttling / 10 pillars of consumer protection / Quebec Consumer Protection Act / Ontario Consumer Services ministry

CRTC to fast-track its review of Globalive

(PIAC 23/07/09) The CRTC will examine Globalive’s finances Sept. 22-23 with a decision in 30 days, the Canadian Press reported on July 21. In 2008 the company paid the federal government $442 million for wireless spectrum with the idea of launching the beginnings of its cell phone network by the end of the year.
In submissions Telus, Shaw, Bell and Rogers argued for public hearings while PIAC said hearings would be unnecessary and would delay the arrival of new competition. PIAC noted an ownership review of Globalive took place under Industry Canada in March. The CRTC decision to hold fast-track hearings splits the difference.
CBC News reported on July 21: “PIAC also said in its submission that adding another layer of bureaucracy for companies with some foreign ownership goes against the spirit of the government’s stated goal for the auction to increase competition. A 2006 Telecommunications Policy Review Panel report argued loosening restrictions on foreign ownership would act to increase competition.”

Frais abusifs sur des cartes de crédit

(PIAC 23/07/09) « Les grandes banques canadiennes et la Fédération des caisses Desjardins en appellent du jugement de la Cour supérieure du Québec qui, le 11 juin dernier, dans le cadre d’un recours collectif, les a condamnées à dédommager les consommateurs pour des frais abusifs imposés sur leurs cartes de crédit entre 2000 et 2007 » La Presse Canadienne a rapporté le 21 juillet 2009,
« Ce jugement les condamnait à verser aux consommateurs près de 200 millions $ de frais illégaux pour des transactions en devises étrangères effectuées par carte de crédit. L’organisme Option Consommateurs, qui n’est pas surpris de la procédure d’appel, aurait tout de même espéré que les institutions n’utilisent pas abusivement les tribunaux pour un affrontement perdu d’avance, selon son porte-parole, Michel Arnold » La Presse Canadienne a rapporté.
Dans sa décision, le juge Gascon a donné raison à Réal Marcotte, le consommateur représentant le recours collectif. Il reprochait aux institutions de ne pas respecter le délai de grâce de 21 jours imposé par la Loi sur la protection du consommateur pour les frais de crédit. De plus, il affirmait qu’elles avaient dissimulé des frais de conversion, variant de 1,8 à 2,5 pour cent, dans le taux de change des devises, en violation de la loi provinciale » La Presse Canadienne a rapporté.

Don’t throttle the net, consumers say

(PIAC 23/07/09) “’There will be abuse, privacy violations and price discrimination,’ John Lawford, counsel at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, told a CRTC panel in Gatineau, Que. A better approach, he said, is to charge subscribers based on how much bandwidth they use, regardless of the application. While Lawford acknowledged that there is a role for DPI when it comes to ferreting out spam or harmful viruses, he said the burden of proof should be on the ISPs to show that such techniques are necessary when it comes to traffic management,” the Toronto Star reported on July 7.
“Bell and the other ISPs shouldn’t be able to declare a perpetual state of emergency when it lies in their power to build more capacity to meet demand,” the Star’s Chris Sorensen quoted Lawford. The Canadian Press reported: Lawford “questioned whether providers are using high-bandwidth peer-to-peer file sharing as a scapegoat for their failure to expand networks to meet demand. Peer-to-peer is used to distribute large files, including software, academic files, movies, television programs and music, from computer to computer over the Internet,” CP’s Julian Beltrame reported.
The Financial Post quoted the PIAC counsel: “People’s internet traffic is just like their telephone traffic,” … “They expect it to go through without being slowed or garbled or anything else … if you let them [ISPs], for whatever stated reason, try to control that message you’re trying to get through, bad things will happen. And if they haven’t happened yet, they will and that would be privacy violations and eventually they’ll start raising prices based on what you do on the internet,” the Post’s Matt Hartley reported on July 7.

Consumer protection better in Europe: PIAC Report

(PIAC 23/07/09) On July 3 the Public Interest Advocacy Centre released a report comparing consumer protection in Canada with the regime provided by the European Commission. The report—Consumer Protection in Canada and the European Union: A Comparison—is a study of the different approaches to protecting consumers in Canadian and European jurisdictions. It uses the EU’s “Ten Principles of Consumer Protection” as its benchmark.
The chief finding of the report is Canada’s consumer protection laws and regulations are, in general, far less comprehensive than those of the European Union in a number of wide ranging areas including food labeling, ecommerce, airline transportation, and telecommunications. Michael Janigan, executive director and general counsel of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre said the differences were not simply the result of differing economic conditions.
Janigan said: “Our conclusion is the reason consumers are better protected in Europe in many key consumer transactions is that policymakers place consumers at the centre of any considerations when making market place rules. In Canada, looking after consumer interests is an afterthought. For example, we haven’t had a consumer affairs ministry in over 16 years at the federal level.”
The report was made possible by a grant from the European Community through its External Relations program. The Report and an Executive Summary are at www.piac.ca.

Blakes: Quebec bill would give more power to groups like Option Consommateurs

(PIAC 23/07/09) On June 16 Quebec unveiled Bill 60 to amend the Consumer Protection Act. Press coverage focused on the impact on cell phone, internet and other service agreements that qualify as ‘contracts involving sequential performance for a service provided at a distance’, blakes.com reported on June 24.
“However, many of the proposed amendments contained in Bill 60 actually apply to businesses that operate in a variety of sectors, including those involved in financial services. The most significant amendments for financial service providers are those respecting prepaid cards, certain types of contractual clauses, and enforcement,” blakes.com reported.
“Bill 60 also widens the power to apply for an injunction to consumer advocacy bodies (e.g., Option Consommateurs). Failure to comply with an injunction obtained by the President or a consumer advocacy body may lead to a motion for contempt of court. The recourse to an injunction will greatly increase the enforcement powers available to the OPC and consumer advocacy bodies,” Annick Demers & Bryna Brodt wrote for blakes.com.

PIAC hails new Ontario Consumer Services ministry

(PIAC 23/07/09) Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) applauded the June 24 creation of the Ontario Consumer Services ministry, formerly part of a portfolio that included small business. “This is important recognition that ordinary Ontario families need their own advocate at the Cabinet table who will make sure that they get a fair deal in the marketplace,” said Michael Janigan, PIAC’s executive director and general counsel. Janigan praised Ontario’s leadership in elevating the status of consumer affairs and said he looked forward to working with a minister whose sole focus will be bettering economic conditions for consumers.
“Governments of all stripes are starting to realize that markets need rules, and also require protection for those whose pocketbooks may not be big enough to get the best deal from suppliers. An important first step in this process of reform is to recognize that consumer affairs is important enough to warrant its own cabinet position to ensure proper representation. We hope that other first ministers will follow Premier McGuinty’s example.”
Ted McMeekin, M.P.P. for Ancaster–Dundas-Flamborough was today (June 24) named the new Minister of Consumer Services as part of a cabinet shuffle announced by the Premier.

PIAC seeks volunteers: Help us represent consumers

(PIAC 23/07/09) PIAC is frequently asked to participate in industry, government or standards-making committees that must determine the appropriate policy and operational approach to consumer issues that arise in the context of the various important public services, industries and market functions that PIAC attempts to cover. Sometimes, we simply do not have the time and resources to participate in these committees or public consultations. It would be helpful if we knew of individuals with experience in issues of consumer protection or government regulation that could assist in providing the appropriate feedback on behalf of ordinary consumers in the policy making process.
If you are interested, please send us an email at piac@piac.ca telling us what issues you are interested and/or experienced in, your availability for volunteer service and a brief description of the basis for your interest/experience in the area. Please note, that you may not be immediately contacted for a task when you send an email. We will, however, have your expression of interest on file to be accessed when an appropriate request for input comes up that PIAC staff cannot fulfil.

PIAC says basic TV should be accessible: Minister says tough luck

(PIAC 17/06/09) “Many Canadians will get snowed in with digital TV transition slated for 2011 … Heritage Minister James Moore is adamant the government will not step in. ‘I think the transition to digital is important. It’s coming. It’s a fact. But I’ve made it clear a number of times in public that it is not the role of government to finance the transition to digital,’ the Canadian Press reported on May 21.
“About nine per cent of Canadians don’t get their TV through cable or satellite dish, and most of them live in big cities or border towns where over-the-air signals are clear and plentiful. … In the United States, where the transition to digital [took place] on June 13, the federal government gave citizens a US$40 coupon to help buy a converter for their older TVs.
“There’s no such program in Canada. … The networks and the big cable companies, through a working group, have proposed a “hybrid” solution, where Canadians who are left without TV signals when transmitters are shut down will be served by either cable or satellite companies. But that means incurring a monthly fee they never had before. The change will disproportionately affect lower-income Canadians, says Michael Janigan of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. The organization is pushing government to regulate a new basic-cable package at a vastly reduced fee.”
CP’s Jennifer Ditchburn quoted Janigan: “If we are pouring large amounts of money into producing programming and broadcasting facilities associated with television services, it seems to be not inappropriate to suggest these services should be affordable and accessible by all Canadians.”

Les Canadiens financent leur consommation avec de l’argent qu’ils n’ont pas gagné

(PIAC 17/06/09) « Dans une étude dévoilée hier, l’Association des comptables généraux accrédités du Canada (CGA-Canada) dresse un portrait sombre de l’état des finances des ménages au pays: ils sont plus que jamais endettés et ils utilisent de plus en plus le crédit pour leurs dépenses courantes. Tant et si bien que l’endettement total des ménages a atteint un sommet de 1300 milliards de dollars à la fin de 2008. Cela représente près de 40 000$ par habitant, soit près du double par rapport à l’an 2000 » La Presse Affaires a rapporté le 27 mai.
« Cette étude vient mettre des chiffres sur quelque chose que l’on remarque depuis plusieurs années», souligne Karine Robillard, avocate et conseillère budgétaire chez Option consommateurs.
« Les cartes et les marges de crédit sont la première dette des consommateurs canadiens, et 85% d’entre eux ont une dette active de carte de crédit (c’est-à-dire qu’ils ne paient pas la totalité de leur solde) » Hugo Fontaine a rapporté.

PIAC says net throttling decision based on errors in law and fact

(PIAC 17/06/09) “Canadian Internet Service Providers continue to battle what they say are attempts to undermine fair competition in the country’s telecom industry. And they say the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) “erred in law and in fact” in its decision about Internet throttling,” Mediacaster reported on June 8.
More than 10 telecommunication service providers have joined the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) in the past six months, and have signed on to a petition calling for the CRTC to rescind its November 2008 decision that allowed Bell Canada to continue to throttle Internet users traffic.
The coalition asserts in a 66-page document that the CRTC based its decision on factual and legal errors and the decision undermines the public interest in a competitive Internet access services market. “While the issues have always been critical, the attacks on fair competition and mandated access to telecommunications infrastructure on a wholesale basis are coming more frequently and with great voracity than ever,” Tom Copeland, Chair of CAIP told Mediacaster.
The brief was written by PIAC counsel John Lawford with the assistance of Janet Lo and is at: www.cata.ca/files/CAIP/R_V_on_Throttling_%2820May09FINAL%29-1.pdf

Canadian Food Inspection Agency conflicted: Option Consommateurs

(PIAC 17/06/09) CFIA must focus its activities on the protection of Canadians, Option Consommateurs told the House of Commons Sub-Committee on Food Safety on June 10. Consumer protection is not an explicit element of the mandate or the mission of the Agency. Officially, its task is to manage food safety and to promote the industry. Anu Bose, Head of the Ottawa office of Option Consommateurs testified: “We believe that these objectives are contradictory and that they place the Agency in a potential conflict of interest. The protection of Canadians must be the priority.”
Option Consommateurs is therefore calling for greater transparency in the operation of the CFIA. Bose said: “If the Agency really wishes to rebuild its credibility with consumers, it must re-examine its structure with a view to openness and transparency. It should draw inspiration from international best practices. In the UK, the regulatory body’s motto is ‘Putting the consumer first.’ In Canada, the priority is unclear.”

Banks break promise on clear language in mortgages: Option Consommateurs

(PIAC 17/06/09) “Dominique Gervais, a lawyer with the budget counselling division of Option Consommateurs, a non-profit consumer rights group in Quebec, said ever since interest rates began to fall in January, the organization has received dozens of calls from confused bank customers unsure about how the financial institutions make their penalty calculations for the breaking of a mortgage agreement,” the Montreal Gazette reported on June 5.
“People are calling us because they find the penalties are too high,” Gervais said. “They think it is three months and then the bank arrives with its calculation of, say, $10,000. The person shops around and then when they decide they want to break their agreement and contact their bank, they find that the penalty has gone up to $15,000 and they don’t understand why.”
The Gazette’s Kathryn Leger reported: “These clauses are legal,” Gervais said. “But we think that in many cases, the banks are going too far because they are making their calculation on the basis of what the posted rate was at the time of the loan and not on any discounted rate that was agreed upon with the customer.”
“They are incomprehensible and, at times, it has taken six lawyers working here looking at a mortgage contract to be able to clearly understand a penalty clause,” the lawyer said. Gervais recalled that the banking industry has not made good on a pledge the Canadian Bankers Association made in 2000 to make clauses in mortgage contracts easier to understand by 2005,” the Gazette reported.
2. Banks must obey provincial consumer protection laws: Option Consommateurs
(PIAC 17/06/09) “Several financial institutions were ordered [on June 11] to pay more than $200 million to Quebec credit-card holders when a court ruled the institutions broke consumer-protection laws. … Michel Arnold of Option Consommateurs, a consumer-protection group, called the judgment a huge victory for consumers,” the Canadian Press reported on June 12.
CJAD reported: “The Quebec Superior court ruling in favour of consumers who say they were illegally charged for fees on their credit cards could have implications beyond Quebec, and beyond the banking and credit card industry. Option Consommateurs lawyer Stephanie Poulin says that while the class action suit involves only Quebec consumers of certain credit card services, the ruling could impact heavily in other provinces and on other industries.
“Poulin sees in the ruling a judicial confirmation that federally-regulated industries…like banks and credit card companies are not above provincial laws, such as Quebec’s consumer protection rules,” CJAD’s Claude Beaulieu reported on June 12.

PIAC wants cellphone competitor startup now

(PIAC 17/06/09) In submissions filed with the CRTC earlier this month, PIAC took a dim view of efforts by TELUS and Shaw to have the CRTC conduct a proceeding on whether new cellphone licencee Globalive Communications Corp. meets Canadian ownership requirements for carriers. PIAC noted an ownership review had already taken place under the aegis of Industry Canada prior to the issuance of Globalive licence in March and urged no further delay to the start-up of the new wireless carrier.

Quebec cracking down on cell carriers: Option Consommateur’s applauds Bill 60

(PIAC 17/06/09) “The Quebec government is cracking down on cellphone companies as part of a precedent-setting consumer protection bill that restricts the automatic renewal of contracts and limits penalties against consumers for rescinding an agreement,” the Globe and Mail reported on June 17. “Finally we have it. It’s been a long process but we finally got it done,” said Michel Arnold, president of Option consommateurs. “We will support this bill whole-heartedly but we expect a major battle from cellphone companies. It’s not over yet.
“The consumer protection group also applauded provisions in the bill that will require companies to include all costs in the price advertised for their product. Car companies will be required to include accessory costs such as transportation fees in the price being advertised. Cellphone companies will need to include the cost of all services in the final price,” the Globe’s Rhéal Séguin reported.

Cellphone companies lobby for a fee holiday: What about consumers?

(PIAC 17/06/09) “Canada’s biggest wireless companies are calling on Ottawa to slash the licensing fees they pay to access public airwaves, but there’s little indication that any savings will be passed along to subscribers – particularly when it comes to the controversial “system access” fees that show up on wireless customers’ monthly bills,” the Toronto Star reported on June 12.
The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association says the $130 million in spectrum licensing fees exceeds the costs of managing the public resource. Bell Canada wants a fee holiday. But there was no word the carriers would cut the $6.95 to $8.95 per month system access fees they charge to subscribers the Star reported.
”[The system access fee is] a misleading charge,” said John Lawford, a lawyer with the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, noting that such add-on fees allow cellphone companies to advertise lower prices,” the Star’s Chris Sorenson reported.

Banks must obey provincial consumer protection laws: Option Consommateurs

(PIAC 17/06/09) “Several financial institutions were ordered [on June 11] to pay more than $200 million to Quebec credit-card holders when a court ruled the institutions broke consumer-protection laws. … Michel Arnold of Option Consommateurs, a consumer-protection group, called the judgment a huge victory for consumers,” the Canadian Press reported on June 12.
CJAD reported: “The Quebec Superior court ruling in favour of consumers who say they were illegally charged for fees on their credit cards could have implications beyond Quebec, and beyond the banking and credit card industry. Option Consommateurs lawyer Stephanie Poulin says that while the class action suit involves only Quebec consumers of certain credit card services, the ruling could impact heavily in other provinces and on other industries.
“Poulin sees in the ruling a judicial confirmation that federally-regulated industries…like banks and credit card companies are not above provincial laws, such as Quebec’s consumer protection rules,” CJAD’s Claude Beaulieu reported on June 12.

Des pseudo-soldes chez Canadian Tire

(PIAC 17/06/09) « Dans le commerce de détail, les pseudo-soldes sont si fréquents, et parfois si mal déguisés, que les consommateurs ne s’en formalisent plus. Pourtant, la pratique est illégale. Les consommateurs devraient porter plainte auprès de l’Office de la protection du consommateur ou du Bureau de la concurrence » La Presse Affaires a rapporté le 1 juin.
« La semaine dernière, elle était à la recherche d’un vélo pour une adolescente. Dans les allées de la succursale Angrignon de Canadian Tire, elle a vu le Matterhorn Raleigh. Ça tombait bien, le vélo était en solde à 219,99$ jusqu’au 28 mai. Bien en évidence sur l’étiquette jaune fluo figurait le mot “rabais” en rouge. Un rabais de combien? Mystère. Mais en soulevant l’étiquette, la cliente a découvert que le vélo se détaillait au prix courant de 219,99$. Bref, il n’y avait pas d’aubaine. »
« Il n’est pas rare que les commerces attirent la clientèle avec de faux rabais.Par exemple, Jean-François Vinet, d’Option consommateurs, a suivi, l’an dernier, l’évolution des prix d’un ordinateur sur le site web d’un grand détaillant de produits électroniques. Il a découvert que le prix courant fluctuait d’une semaine à l’autre. Le détaillant le gonflait lorsqu’il offrait des rabais, de telle sorte que le prix de vente réel demeurait toujours le même. Les soldes n’étaient qu’un subterfuge » Sébastien Grammond a rapporté.

Volunteers Sought

June 2009
PIAC is frequently asked to participate in industry, government or standards-making committees that must determine the appropriate policy and operational approach to consumer issues that arise in the context of the various important public services, industries and market functions that PIAC attempts to cover. Sometimes, we simply do not have the time and resources to participate in these committees or public consultations. It would be helpful if we knew of individuals with experience in issues of consumer protection or government regulation that could assist in providing the appropriate feedback on behalf of ordinary consumers in the policy making process.
If you are interested, please send us an email at piac@piac.ca telling us what issues you are interested and/or experienced in, your availability for volunteer service and a brief description of the basis for your interest/experience in the area.
Please note, that you may not be immediately contacted for a task when you send an email. We will, however, have your expression of interest on file to be accessed when an appropriate request for input comes up that PIAC staff cannot fulfill.
 

Public Interest News: Energy recovery fee / Canada: Land of payday loan opportunity / Flyers' rights / Energy marketers / Net throttling / Travel Industry Council of Ontario / Basic basic TV

Car rental fees: Air conditioning excise tax, vehicle license fee, road tax

(PIAC 20/05/09) “Ever heard of the energy recovery fee. We find three giants charging the fee, so what’s it for? Budget, Hertz and Avis tell us it helps cover costs like utilities, oil and grease,” the National reported on May 14.
“Not all car rental outfits are tacking on this fee,” CBC’s Erica Johnson reported. PIAC’s Michael Janigan told Johnson: “It should go into the price. The cost of doing business is reflected in the price of what you pay and that enables a consumer to compare apples to apples in the market.

Canada lagging on payday loan regulations

(PIAC 20/05/09) Two years ago the federal government turned over regulation of the industry to the provinces. Loans under $1,500 are exempted from the maximum interest rates allowed under the Criminal Code, the National Post reported on May 18.
In the United States “there are 15 states that already effectively prohibit payday loans through caps on interest rates for small loans. Others are considering similar legislation. … ‘Canada is going in the opposite direction,’ said John Lawford, counsel for the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottawa. ‘It is disappointing that the federal government washed its hands,’” the Post’s Shannon Kari reported.
“The most contentious area remains the maximum fees that will be permitted. Four provinces so far have decided on fee caps that will take effect later this year. Ontario and British Columbia are permitting total fees of well over $60 for a typical $300 loan to be repaid in 14 days, at a time when interest rates are at historic lows. The fees are nearly 15 times what a credit card company would charge.”

Flight rights: PIAC praises airlines’ first step

(PIAC 20/05/09) “A leading consumer advocate is welcoming plans by Canada’s four largest carriers to enhance travellers’ protections by making a federal bill of rights legally binding. Michael Janigan, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, said yesterday that the carriers should do more, but praised them for strengthening an airline code of conduct, allowing the Canadian Transportation Agency to decide restitution for consumers, effective by mid-June,” the Globe and Mail reported on May 5.
“We’re finally seeing something other than window-dressing,” (Janigan) said. Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz, WestJet Airlines Ltd. and Air Transat – which belong to the National Airlines Council of Canada – say if they fail to deliver on commitments under the Flight Rights Canada program announced by Ottawa last September, the CTA will be empowered to hold the carriers to account,“ the Globe’s Brent Jang wrote.
While Janigan supports the airlines’ move he says the private member’s bill creating stronger protection for airline passengers, which passed second reading May 13, is needed. The bill includes a provision to include all fees in the advertised price.

Competition Act: PIAC and Option Consommateurs support amendments

(PIAC 20/05/09) In testimony to the Senate Committee on Banking, Trade, and Commerce on May 14, PIAC and Option Consommateurs urged support for the amendments to the Competition Act which were included in the budget implementation bill (C-10).
“While the Bill is not perfectly tailored to the needs of consumers, it represents a genuine attempt to make the promotion of competitive markets and enforcement of prohibitions against anti-competitive conduct a priority,” Michael Janigan, PIAC executive director testified.
“Deterring anti-competitive conduct as proposed here is not the heavy hand of government in operation; instead it is supportive of open markets and less regulation. The fact is a lot of money can be made by misleading the public or unfairly stacking the deck against competitors,” Janigan said.
Unless government have the tools at hand to prevent such conduct from being rewarded, three unfortunate things will occur:
1. preventing informed choice and possible innovation;
2. enabling inefficiency in the delivery of that product or service; and
3. ensuring that incumbents have little incentive to become more productive.

Net throttling: Only for good

(PIAC 20/05/09) On April 30 PIAC filed a response to the initial submissions made for the CRTC’s net throttling hearings which will be held in July. Acting for the Consumers’ Association of Canada, the National Anti-Poverty Organization and Option Consommateurs, PIAC asserted “internet traffic management may be here to stay but it can be tamed.”
“The best method of ensuring the proper functioning of the Internet as we now know it in Canada is to require that all ISPs use their DPI boxes and similar technologies (if they employ them) only for good and not evil. What is evil and what is good is the Commission’s job to decide,” PIAC counsel John Lawford wrote.
The consumer groups cite the Telecommunications Act to define this narrow scope. Subsection 27(2) forbids unjust discrimination, undue preference or advantage to any customer or to an ISP (or TSP) itself. Section 36 forbids interference with the content of any telecommunication or influencing the meaning or purpose of telecommunications. Section 36 has a built-in process to allow the Commission, upon application by an ISP (or TSP), to permit such interference with the telecommunications signal.

Ontario energy marketing: PIAC says the benefits are dwarfed by problems

(PIAC 20/05/09) “Ontario isn’t doing enough to protect consumers from deceptive tactics used by door-to-door energy sellers. The province opened its doors to competition in natural gas in 1997 and to electricity in 2002. Ontario tried to jump-start energy competition, but ignored the way that competitors built their market share, says Michael Janigan, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. ‘The benefits associated with having this stuff going on are dwarfed by the problems associated with it,’” the Toronto Star reported on May 10.
“The Ontario Energy Board is falling behind on the job of policing the conduct of energy sellers. The board received 2,126 complaints about marketers in the first quarter of this year – up from a quarterly average of 1,500 last year – but rarely lays charges. It fined two retailers this year for failing to follow market rules. This was the first penalty since 2003,” the Star’s Ellen Roseman wrote.

PIAC supports TICO’s handling of Conquest Vacations sudden closure

(PIAC 20/05/09) “The fallout for travellers stranded abroad as a result of last week’s collapse of Conquest Vacations vividly shows the necessity for the maintenance of travel provider operational rules and a compensation fund to prevent travellers from being out of pocket. However, the revelation that the regulator, the Travel Industry Council of Ontario, was aware of Conquest’s financial difficulties prior to its closure has engendered some misplaced efforts to claim that TICO should have prevented or lessened the fiasco by warning consumers earlier,” Michael Janigan, PIAC general counsel and executive director wrote in an opinion article published by the Toronto Star on Apr. 24.
“Conquest was a big tour operator whose winter travel packages were sold to some 85,000 travellers annually. When TICO investigators discovered a problem with Conquest’s working capital in March, TICO could have decided to issue a public warning about the state of the company’s finances, notwithstanding that all customer money in trust was properly accounted for. Such a warning would have been the equivalent of a death sentence for Conquest, and would undoubtedly have led to its immediate demise, once again jilting travellers,” Janigan wrote in the Star.

Option consommateurs: Une période minimale de grâce sans intérêt sur les achats à crédit

(PIAC 20/05/09) Déjà le ministre Flaherty promettait, en janvier dernier, au moment du dépôt de son dernier budget, de limiter les pratiques commerciales nuisibles aux consommateurs. Ottawa indiquait alors qu’il comptait imposer aux compagnies de carte de crédit une période minimale de grâce sans intérêt sur les achats à crédit,” SRC Nouvelles a rapporté le 23 avril.
“Les associations de consommateurs déplorent que les grandes compagnies émettrices de cartes de crédit exigent des taux d’intérêt frôlant les 20 %, alors que la Banque du Canada a multiplié les annonces de baisse de ses taux directeurs. Taux directeur qui atteint désormais 0,25 %.
“Option consommateurs, pour sa part, estime qu’il est contradictoire de justifier par le risque des taux d’intérêt élevés quand les compagnies de cartes de crédit offrent elles-mêmes leurs produits aux consommateurs à risque,” SRC Nouvelles a rapporté.

PIAC to release a new study on consumer protection

(PIAC 20/05/09) The Public Interest Advocacy Centre will soon release a report comparing the state of consumer protection in the European Union with Canadian federal and provincial equivalents. The report analyses Canadian protection in accordance with the EU’s document “Ten Principles of Consumer Protection”. “We’re very pleased with the report,” says Michael Janigan, PIAC Executive Director and General Counsel. “It will help all of us who are encouraging governments to pay more heed to their responsibility to protect consumers and to adopt European examples where appropriate.”
The report was written by PIAC researcher Esteban Uribe. It was funded by the European Union External Relations Directorate. Media members and the public will be advised of release details when they become available.

Concern grows over self-policing by airlines

(PIAC 20/05/09) “Ottawa’s push to let air carriers police the safety of their own operations marks a “dismantling” of regulatory oversight in this country and is a disaster in the making, a Parliament Hill forum has heard. In sometimes moving testimony, pilots, union officials and relatives of air crash victims yesterday gave a damning condemnation of Transport Canada’s ongoing move to shift responsibility for safety onto the airlines and air taxi operators,” the Toronto Star reported on April 22.
“While federal officials have claimed it will add a layer of scrutiny, it comes as Transport Canada is cutting back its own audits and inspections of aviation companies, the forum was told. “This is a plan about making it look good … in fact, the actual activities and actions of oversight will not occur,” said Greg Holbrook, national chair of the Canadian Federal Pilots Association, whose ranks include pilot inspectors with Transport Canada. The federal government has been introducing “safety management system,” to sectors of the aviation industry, a process that lets individual firms rather than federal inspectors oversee their operations,” the Star’s Bruce Campion-Smith wrote.
PIAC opposes Aeronautics Act amendments (not yet re-introduced during the 40th Parliament) mandating safety management systems.

Basic TV should be basic: Cable providers should pay for over the air channels

(PIAC 21/04/09) The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) has called for a review of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission decision which refused over-the-air (OTA) carriage fees,” Straight Goods reported on Apr. 13.
In a letter to the Minister of Canadian Heritage James Moore, PIAC proposed cable and satellite service offer a much reduced package of basic service. The new basic service would be costed by Commission and be subject to a price cap like basic telephone service. Included in basic service, local OTA broadcasters would receive carriage fees in the same way as other channels frequently owned by cable and satellite companies.
“Our plan will help the 4 million Canadians who only receive OTA television when analog OTA is eliminated in 2011. It’s ridiculous that Canadians have been paying higher prices for TV at a time when it is supposed to be competitive,” Michael Janigan PIAC general counsel says. Janigan also notes both the CBC and the local broadcasters proposed a much reduced basic service package,” Straight Goods reported.

Tell the CRTC what you think about net neutrality: April 30 deadline

(PIAC-21/04/09) The Public Interest Advocacy Centre welcomed the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) decision to create a public consultation on whether Canadian Internet Service Providers should be allowed to “throttle” or otherwise slow down or influence the Internet traffic passing through their networks. This is an aspect of the debate over what is known as “net neutrality”.
The CRTC launched an online public consultation on March 31, 2009, open until 30 April 2009 to solicit public comments in the course of a formal proceeding about the throttling issue. PIAC on behalf of several consumer groups has already made formal submissions, as have many other groups and ISPs.
“I think the CRTC realizes the importance of what the Internet means to consumers,” said John Lawford, counsel for PIAC, who argued that ISPs be prohibited from deciding what Internet traffic they let pass and how fast, on behalf of consumer groups Consumers Association of Canada, Canada Without Poverty (formally, the National Anti-Poverty Organization) and Option Consommateurs.
“Finally individual Canadians can let the Commission know if they want the Internet to remain open and free to all applications and services or closed like the cellphone market and priced accordingly,” Lawford said. The CRTC is expected to make a decision by fall 2009. However, PIAC notes that consumers also may attend the oral public hearing on this matter, July 6-9, 2009 at the CRTC hearing in Gatineau, Quebec.
PIAC’s submission is at crtc.gc.ca/public/partvii/2008/8646/c12_200815400/1030499.zip

Credit card debt fuelling bankruptcies: Option Consommateurs

(PIAC-21/04/09) “Credit card debt is the main factor in 80 per cent of the rising tide of personal bankruptcies, a Senate committee probing Canada’s credit and debit payment system heard yesterday,” the Toronto Star reported on March 27.
“The financial institutions are increasingly leaving aside their social responsibilities,” said Genevieve Reed, head of research and advocacy for Option Consommateurs. Whereas a few years ago, mortgage defaults were the main factor in bankruptcy cases, now it’s credit card debt, Reed said in an interview following her appearance. Personal bankruptcy rates jumped 22 per cent in January, over the year-ago period, according to federal data released this week,” the Star’s Dana Flavelle reported.

Utilisez la marge de crédit hypothécaire avec parcimonie: Option consommateurs.

(PIAC-20/04/09) “Une marge de crédit hypothécaire peut être obtenue tant lors de l’achat de la propriété qu’au renouvellement du prêt hypothécaire. … Dans le cas d’une marge de crédit hypothécaire établie à l’achat d’une résidence, les institutions financières exigent généralement de l’acheteur une mise de fonds initiale équivalant à 20 % du prix d’achat de la propriété,” Les Affaires a rapporté le 11 avril.
“Même si les taux d’intérêt sont faibles actuellement, il faut utiliser la marge de crédit hypothécaire avec parcimonie, car la résidence principale sert de garantie, rappelle Karine Robillard, conseillère chez Option consommateurs. ” Il ne faut pas oublier qu’il s’agit d’une forme de crédit qui permet de réemprunter. Cela peut être dangereux,” Pierre Picard a rapporté.

Seniors, homeless could struggle with B.C. election ID requirements

(PIAC-21/04/09) Students, seniors and the homeless could have a more difficult time voting in the B.C. election because of new rules requiring them to prove their identity and place of residence, civil rights lawyers say. … Attorney General Wally Oppal said the changes were made to ensure that only those people entitled to vote do so. “These requirements are modelled on recent changes to the federal law and help to prevent voter fraud while still ensuring voter accessibility,” he told the legislature last year,” the Times Colonist reported on Apr. 13.
“But Jim Quail, a lawyer with the B.C. Public Interest Advocacy Centre, said neither the federal nor provincial governments has produced any evidence of widespread voter fraud.
“So this is essentially a solution in search of a problem,” he said. Quail, who is challenging the federal law in B.C. Supreme Court in June, said Canadians have an absolute constitutional right to vote and the new rules create unnecessary obstacles for the homeless, students and others without a stable address,” the Times Colonist’s Lindsay Kines wrote.
“A lot of these sources of documentation that are taken for granted by the people who make these laws aren’t available to some groups in our society,” he said.

Suit planned against drug makers

(PIAC-20/04/09) “A Quebec consumer-rights association is planning an $8-million class-action lawsuit against eight drug makers of children’s cough and cold medications, claiming that they engaged in false advertising. Option Consommateurs contends that the companies knew all along that their over-the-counter syrups and chewable tablets did not relieve cough and cold symptoms in children under the age of six, as advertised,” the Montreal Gazette reported on March 25.
“Those corporations sold drugs that are simply ineffective,” Maxime Nasr, a lawyer for Option consommateurs, said in an interview Wednesday. “The labels for those products clearly stated that they were useful for children under the age of six when, in fact, that is not the case,” the Gazette’s Aaron Derfel reported.

Consumer groups appeal $650,000,000 phone fees

(PIAC-21/04/09) A one-day appeal hearing at the Supreme Court of Canada, concerning the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) Decision on the fate of some $650 million collected from rates charged to residential phone users (took place) on March 26. The monies were collected in the period from 2002-2006. Consumer groups such as the Consumers Association of Canada and the National Anti-Poverty Organization (now Canada Without Poverty) brought the appeal, with the assistance of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre,” Mediacaster Magazine reported on March 26.
“They say the money was collected from local rates that were made higher by the CRTC during that period to encourage competition in local phone service, so the remaining amount of $650 million of the excess rates, maintained in telephone company deferral accounts, should be rebated to residential local ratepayers. In 2008, the CRTC said half of the money should be spent on telephone company broadband operations in remote areas and the rest returned to ratepayers. Bell Canada has also appealed, but it is saying that all of the money belongs only to the telephone companies,” Mediacaster reported.
The Supreme Court of Canada is expected to render its decision in June.

BC’s badly broken welfare system

(PIAC-21/04/09) On April 13 Tyee reported: “The good news is the provincial government is promising to fix the welfare system. The bad news is they broke it really, really badly and much damage is already done. “A lot of these problems have been really bad for seven years,” said Sarah Khan, a lawyer with the B.C. Public Interest Advocacy Centre. “Many of them have been chronic since 2002.”
“The problems go back to the period after Premier Gordon Campbell’s BC Liberal Party first formed government. As the Tyee reported in a 2004 series, Campbell’s reforms led to a huge drop in the welfare caseload. While the government claimed the drop was from people going back to work, much of it with the help of private job placement companies, there was plenty of evidence the new rules were being used to rule ineligible people who would previously have gotten help.
“We think the increases in homelessness are directly attributable to the problems identified in (Ombudsman Kim Carter’s Last Resort) the report,” Khan said. Had the Liberals fixed these problems years ago, or not created them in the first place, she said, “There’s no way we could have seen the levels of homelessness we see now,” Tyee reported.

Consumer bankruptcies spike in January

(PIAC-21/04/09) “More than 10,700 consumers in Canada declared themselves insolvent in January, a jump of 23.1 per cent compared to the same month in 2008. For the 12-month period ending January 31, 2009, 117,704 consumers had declared themselves insolvent, a 16 per cent year-over-year jump,” Canwest News Service reported on March 25.
“These numbers represent people who almost certainly will be unable to be part of the economic recovery” said Michel Arnold, executive director of Option consommateurs, a Montreal-based non-profit consumer advocacy group,” Canwest’s David Akin reported.

Tell the CRTC What YOU Think About Net Neutrality

Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2009
Public Consultation on the Throttling Practices of Canadian Internet Service Providers
OTTAWA – The Public Interest Advocacy Centre today welcomed the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) decision to create a public consultation on whether Canadian Internet Service Providers should be allowed to “throttle” or otherwise slow down or influence the Internet traffic passing through their networks. This is an aspect of the debate over what is known as “net neutrality”.
The CRTC launched an online public consultation on March 31, 2009, open until 30 April 2009 to solicit public comments in the course of a formal proceeding about the throttling issue. PIAC on behalf of several consumer groups has already made formal submissions, as have many other groups and ISPs, which you can read here .
To participate in the CRTC’s public consultation, you must create a username and login on their site. However, you may use a pseudonym or your real name. You must supply an e-mail address to confirm your username and be able to post comments and comment on other comments, rate their utility, etc. However, e-mail addresses will only be used for the purpose of confirming your ability to use the site and will be destroyed afterwards. These are the privacy terms:

All personal information collected by this site is used solely for the purposes of operating the online consultation. The final report submitted to the CRTC does not contain any personally identifiable information, including but not limited to email addresses and first and last names.

Please note that personal email addresses collected by this site are for the purposes of verifying participant registration, managing the login processes, and administering the online consultation process. Personal e-mail addresses collected by this site will be deleted after the consultation process has been completed. No other personally-identifiable information will be collected by the CRTC or by Nanos as part of this online consultation process.

“I think the CRTC realizes the importance of what the Internet means to consumers,” said John Lawford, counsel for PIAC, who argued that ISPs be prohibited from deciding what Internet traffic they let pass and how fast, on behalf of consumer groups Consumers Association of Canada, Canada Without Poverty (formally, the National Anti-Poverty Organization) and Option consommateurs. “Finally, individual Canadians can let the Commission know if they want the Internet to remain open and free to all applications and services or closed like the cellphone market and priced accordingly.”
The CRTC is expected to make a decision by Fall 2009. However, PIAC notes that consumers also may attend the oral public hearing on this matter, July 6-9, 2009 at the CRTC hearing in Gatineau, Quebec.
–  –  –  –
For more information:
John Lawford
Counsel
Public Interest Advocacy Centre
ONE Nicholas Street, Suite 1204
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 7B7
(613) 562-4002×25
(613) 562-0007 (Fax)
jlawford@piac.ca

Fighting for consumer rights

 

Public Interest News: OEB acts / Second Life / Net throttling / Produits hypothécaires / Competition Bureau works / Competition Act amendments / Aviation safety / Big Brother

Ontario Energy Board takes action for low-income consumers

(PIAC-19/03/09) A province-wide program to help low-income households cope with high gas and hydro costs was announced by the Ontario Energy Board on March 10. The Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) will provide emergency financial support, require energy utilities to be flexible with customers and increase access to conservation programs. LEAP will cost about about $5 million, the Toronto Star reported.
“But the energy board has so far only offered up a framework document, said Michael Buonaguro, a lawyer with the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottawa who represents a group called the Vulnerable Energy Consumers Coalition.
”’The question is going to be how we implement it,’ he said. Still, added Buonaguro, the document touches on everything the coalition advocated for and shows significant promise,” the Star’s Tyler Hamilton reported.

Second Life pose real-life privacy risks: Janet Lo

(PIAC-19/03/09) “You can shop, date and commit crimes virtually in online fantasy worlds like Second Life, but you may jeopardize your privacy in the real world, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada says,” CBC News reported on March 11.
“What sets such worlds apart from mere games is the fact that they involve real money and real personal information, said Janet Lo, the author of the study released late last week by the Privacy Commissioner. The rules and agreements concerning privacy, however, were sometimes “missing, or just a bit unclear or vague,” Lo added. That information could include data to verify the participant’s age and credit card information that is necessary to participate in business in Second Life, Lo said. “Always keep in mind that things … or facts or whatever you post or discuss or do could come out later.”
“Lo conducted the study last spring while she was a University of Ottawa law student. She has since graduated and is currently articling at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottawa,” CBC News reported.

Les produits hypothécaires: Option consommateurs

(PIAC-19/03/09) “Les faibles taux d’intérêt actuels sont de bon augure pour les propriétaires qui doivent renouveler leur hypothèque. Les autres sont sans doute tentés de rompre leur engagement pour en renégocier un nouveau et ainsi profiter des bas taux d’intérêt, et ce, malgré les pénalités. C’est que les taux d’intérêt des prêts hypothécaires “sont historiquement bas”, soutient Jean-François Vinet, analyste des services financiers pour l’organisme Option consommateurs” a rapporté Métro Montréal.
“Il faut avoir en tête que les banques veulent vendre des produits financiers, souligne M. Vinet. Avant de se déplacer pour rencontrer une institution financière, il est préférable de consulter des sources d’information indépendantes, tel le site internet de l’Agence de la consommation en matière financière du Canada [www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca].”
“Il peut s’avérer payant de bien s’informer et magasiner les produits hypothécaires. “N’hésitez pas à souligner à votre institution financière que la concurrence vous offre de meilleurs taux d’intérêt”, conseille Option consommateurs,” Gabriel Delisle a écrit le 10 mars.

Net neutrality: Throttling is unnecessary and violates the Telecommunications Act

(PIAC-19/03/09) On Feb. 23 PIAC submitted comments to the CRTC on behalf of the Consumers’ Association of Canada, the National Anti-Poverty Organization and Option consommateurs. The comments note Internet Service Providers’ stated reason for undertaking such measures as application specific traffic throttling is increased traffic growth and estimates of future growth that will overwhelm their networks as they struggle to provide basic electronic mail and web browsing services to the large majority of their customers.
The Consumer Groups submitted: “this concern is vastly overstated and even if there is a risk of “exponential” Internet traffic increase over Canadian ISP networks, that the measures taken thus far to attempt to manage the network are contrary to the Telecommunications Act, discriminatory and not prudent, resilient nor sustainable network management policies. The groups submit that a large portion of bandwidth problems are of the ISPs own making or that it lies within their present and future power to manage this bandwidth more effectively.”
The 94-page brief includes reviews of trends, key questions like traffic management notification and disclosure requirements, and global trends and solutions. The document is at:

Competition Bureau works with consumers groups

(PIAC-19/03/09) “Anu Bose, head of the Ottawa office of Option Consommateurs, suggests consumers protect themselves from savvy con artists. Shred your personal documents, ask for call-back numbers, be wary of sweepstakes, too-good-to-be-true vacation packages, e-mails from your bank (banks rarely e-mail their clients) and ignore all e-mails from exiled princes or long-lost relatives asking for cash in return for part of a trust fund,” Sun media reported on March 3.
Sun Media’s Beth Johnston quoted Bose: “Fraud is a grave violation of a person’s rights. Consumers need to be even more vigilant in hard times.”

Aviation Safety News: Transport 2000 and Public Interest Advocacy Centre

(PIAC-19/03/09) Aviation Safety News is a project of Transport 2000 Canada and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. The latest issues covers: Dryden, March 10, 1989, SkyNorth cleared, No muzzle on inspectors, Sault airport, Lasered , ANS cuts, Perimeter Aviation, 2008-49 dead in 24 crashes, Sonicblue, Air Canada liquidity, Flight 3407, SkyNorth Air, Flight attendant regulations, Passenger bill of rights, Sarvair Aviation, Transwest Air, FAA OpSpec A332 and US Airways Flight 1549.
Transport 2000 and PIAC support airline passenger rights. PIAC and Transport 2000 oppose the Aeronautics Act amendments to transfer primary responsibility for safety to the airlines. The amendments mandate safety management systems but have not been passed by Parliament. The Aviation Safety News readers’ group includes six top aviation safety authorities and a number of industry and civil service professionals.

PIAC supports Competition Act amendments in Bill C-10

(PIAC-19/03/09) In testimony to the Finance Committee on Feb. 24 PIAC’s Michael Janigan said: “We would first note that while the proposed amendments are quite comprehensive, they have certainly been the subject of considerable past discussion among stakeholders and represent a fairly balanced take on necessary refinements to the Act.
“For example, of the amendments complete the reform of misleading advertising or deceptive marketing that has been the consensus for over two decades. These amendments help the Competition authorities address this abuse in an economic and administrative fashion. By so doing, the intent of the provisions will be more efficiently enforced, and sanction meted out, where necessary, that is appropriate to the conduct of the offending advertiser,” PIAC’s General Counsel and Executive Director testified.
“Naturally, there has been an effort to bolster the effectiveness of the non-criminal enforcement procedure to encourage compliance, including more realistic maximums on administrative monetary penalties, and some new rights for complainants. It is essential that the Committee understand that these amendments are designed to make markets work better, and to protect the legitimate interests of consumers and suppliers in open markets. The practices that are being deterred involve conduct that subverts the operation of a competitive market and prevents the existence of an informed market of customers, as well as the ability of suppliers to challenge dominant players with new products and services,” Janigan said.

Aviation Safety: The ‘precautionary principle’ or the `risk approach`

(PIAC-19/03/09) On Feb. 24 the Association of Flight Attendants’ Candace K. Kolander testified before the U.S. House of Representative’s Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation. Her testimony emphasized the safety function of flight attendants and addressed Flammability Standards, Emergency Floor Lighting Systems, 16g Seats, Exit Row Seating, Crew Resource Management (CRM) and September 11 Security Measures. AFA’s Kolander pointed to training, fatigue and contaminated air as areas where the government needs to do a better job.
She summed up the concerns of U.S. Flight attendants by quoting from PIAC’s 2001 report High Hopes and Low Standards! The Life and Times of Airline Travel in Canada: “Part of the problem in dealing with the safety issue and airline travel is the conceptual framework that the industry and to a degree, government, has adopted for safety. … [T]hese differences are exemplified in how safety is dealt [with] through the choices in the industry between the ‘precautionary principle’ or the `risk approach` (also referred to as risk analysis or cost benefit analysis).
The PIAC report said: “In a precautionary approach, standards are created, and investments and initiatives are undertaken to prevent, or greatly reduce the potential for, a possible occurrence, and to provide resources to appropriately deal with an occurrence. In a risk approach, it is calculated that the likelihood of an event occurring is minimal or a low probability. As such, it is then considered more financially effective and efficient to not pursue certain undertakings. In this framework, when an incident does occur, the cost will still be less than that of the proactive precautionary approach, up to a certain level.”

Lawful Access or Big Brother?

(PIAC-19/03/09) “The Conservative government is preparing sweeping new eavesdropping legislation that will force Internet service providers to let police tap exchanges on their systems,” the Globe and Mail reported on Feb. 12. In a panel discussion the next day on CHCH-TV PIAC’s John Lawford said the initiative may allow police to ask for information about personal e-mails and web surfing habits.
To date no bill has been introduced but Lawford says possible “safeguards” proposed in a 2007 consultation document are not subject to the level of public scrutiny that one would expect in Canada. Lawford is concerned new legislation will allow police to fish through everyone’s cyber-life using key words.
He says police can always go to a judge and ask for a warrant.

Public Interest News: Sept. 2008 – Feb. 2009

Astronomical Ontario payday loan cost cap: PIAC

(PIAC-10/02/09) “Ontario should cap the cost of payday loans at $21 for every $100 borrowed and review that limit in two years, an independent advisory board has concluded,” the Canadian Press reported on Feb. 6.
“The $21 proposal is “astronomically high” and a “gift to payday lenders,” said the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. “Ontario consumers are feeling the economic downturn in record numbers, and if they turn to payday loans at this rate, they will never recover,” John Lawford, counsel at the non-profit group, said,” CP’s Maria Babbage wrote.
Canadians borrow an estimated $2 billion a year through payday loans, with Ontario home to more than half of the 1,350 such businesses operating across the country.

Do-not-call registry: Junk phone calls are down

(PIAC-10/02/09) “Our exclusive investigation found that by signing up for the do-not-call list, you’re actually handing your phone number over to the telemarketers, even fraud artists you are trying to avoid,” Global TV reported on Jan. 14. “It took us less than ten minutes on the do not call website to register as a telemarketer using a phoney name. After paying a $50 fee, we were able to access the list for area code 416. That’s 600,000 working phone numbers, a gold mine of information,” Global Ontario’s Jackson Proskow reported.
In the Global report PIAC counsel John Lawford confirmed: “An unscrupulous telemarketer could use it as an actual telemarketing list. The rogue telemarketers can make 100,000, 200,000, 500,000 calls a day.”
On Feb. 9, Lawford noted “There are problems but the Do-not-call registry has reduced telemarketing calls. The CRTC needs to hit rogue operators hard. We need an agreement with the United States. There are too many exemptions, but the model we are working with is the best we are going to get.”

Switch to digital TV could leave 1.25 million Canadians in the dark

(PIAC-10/02/09) The Obama administration is working to delay this month’s planned switch from analogue to digital TV because of concern for the millions of lower income Americans who rely on rabbit-ears.
“In the U.S., the government is issuing two digital-converter coupons, each worth US$40, to households that request them, underwritten with the proceeds from the broadcast-spectrum auctions. Unfortunately, the program ran out of funding earlier this month,” the Georgia Straight reported on Jan. 22.
“With no (Canadian) government movement toward a U.S.–style voucher system, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre proposed low-cost basic cable as a solution in its May 2008 CRTC submission. In a telephone interview, executive director Michael Janigan described the organization’s proposal as “a limited basic-service package available at a reasonable price which would include the existing local channels plus the must-carry stations that they currently have, and that it would be price-capped,” the Straight’s Doug Sarti reported.
The Straight noted 1.25 million (9.6%) households use rabbit ears, including 7% in Vancouver, 15.3% of Francophone Montrealers.

Maple Leaf Foods settles Option Consommateurs class-action

(PIAC-10/02/09) Option Consommateurs and Maple Leaf Foods announced the settlement of a class-action suit brought on behalf of Quebec listeriosis victims, Le Devoir reported on Feb. 3. Normand Painchaud, the lawyer who made the case, told Le Devoir the agreement was very good both in terms of the total $25 million payout and the timeline.
Nearly 5,000 victims of tainted meat from Maple Leaf’s 97B factory in Toronto are eligible. The class-action was jointly pursued in three jurisdictions. The settlement requires the approval of the Superior Court of Quebec on March 20 and in Ontario and Saskatchewan, Le Devoir’s Fabien Deglise reported.

Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote: Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

(PIAC-10/02/09) “A B.C. supreme court judge has agreed to hear a constitutional challenge of the federal government’s voter ID requirements … in June,” Monday Magazine reported on Jan. 29.
“BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre lawyer Jim Quail, who will represent the plaintiffs in the case, says the challenge to the ID requirements will be undertaken citing Section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms wherein, “Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election of members of the House of Commons or of a legislative assembly and to be qualified for membership therein,” Monday Magazine’s Jason Youmans wrote.
BC PIAC argues the new voter ID law disenfranchises the homeless, the poor, students, the elderly, first-time voters, people with disabilities and people living in parts of rural Canada. Jim Quail is a member of the Board of Directors of PIAC.

Quick to help banks, not so quick to help jobless

(PIAC-10/02/09) “Canada’s reluctance to institute a full stimulus package in the recent federal government budget has international parallels,” says Armine Yalnizyan, a senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. “Many of the governments that were very quick to act to restore credit to the system have been much slower to roll out money to respond to the need to replace the jobs that are being shed,” she told International Press Service on Feb 4.
IPS’s Paul Weinberg reported: “The longer time that governments take to implement a full stimulus package to create jobs and encourage citizens to spend money in their respective countries, the greater the likelihood of “something that is far worse than it needs to be” in the world economy, Yalnizyan said. Armine Yalnizyan is a member of PIAC’s Board of Directors.

Food safety probe and the rebranding of Safety Management Systems

(PIAC-10/02/09) On Jan. 20 the federal government appointed Sheila Weatherill the former Edmonton health chief to hold an arms-length investigation of the listeriosis out break last summer. The next day Canadian Press reported Weatherill is on the Prime Minister’s committee to rebrand “the public service as a trusted and innovative institution of national importance.”
On Feb. 5 the Toronto Star reported veterinarians working for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are challenging new rules that would let slaughterhouses monitor themselves.
“The government’s promotion of safety management systems is an attempt to rebrand deregulation,” says Michael Janigan, general counsel of PIAC. “We are concerned by the plans to reduce the power and resources of the civil servants with independent mandates for safety. The government safety strategy of relying on industry-run SMS is not in the interest of consumers.” Option Consommateurs and PIAC note the trend is evident across government including Transport Canada’s Aeronautics Act amendments which would see airlines assume the role of main safety watchdog for their own industry.

Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services Inc. plans public awareness campaign

(PIAC-10/02/09) “Anecdotal evidence shows people don’t really know that this thing exists,” says John Lawford, a research analyst with the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottawa (PIAC). “They probably don’t want 100,000 hits on this, so they’re holding back a bit. It’s not in the phone book,” itbusiness.ca reported on Jan. 26.
Set up in 2007, the CCTS is funded by the industry. In its first full year of operation, the office heard some 3,300 complaints but was getting 1,500 a month in November and December.
Advertising for the CCTS should also be added at the bottom of every phone bill from member companies, Lawford says. “It would be simple to print it at the bottom of each bill,” he says. “But that space is used for advertising, so there might be some resistance,” itbusiness.ca reported.

PIAC calls for an independent review of airline passenger rights

(PIAC-10/02/09) “The recent history of the air passenger experience in Canada, particularly over the recent holiday period, suggests that there remains much to be done in order to provide Canadian airline passengers with a travel experience that falls in line with their reasonable expectations and that required by emerging international standards,” PIAC executive director Michael Janigan wrote in a Jan. 21 letter to Transport Minister John Baird.
“Currently, recognized air passenger rights, as summarized by the document Flight Rights Canada, issued by your department in September of this year, go only part way towards establishing a regime of fairness. There are obvious defects in the mandatory conditions of travel and the regime of consumer protection,” Janigan wrote. He raises six areas of concern: Advertising; Conditions of Travel; Financial monitoring; Performance Monitoring; Airline Rewards (frequent flyer) programs and Lack of Consumer Contact on the part of Transport Canada.
In his letter Janigan calls for an independent review of consumer concerns.

Bank Wal-Mart: No public hearings needed OSFI determines

(PIAC-22/1/09) In an email to a journalist the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions announced it would not hold public hearings into Wal-Mart’s application for bank status. “The issues raised were carefully reviewed and OSFI determined that public hearings would not bring forward any new information that is relevant to its prudential review of the application based on criteria in the Bank Act,” Dow Jones newswires reported on Jan. 17.
“Do you wish to convey that requirements to have independent directors, and for bank directors to carry out their duties in good faith, obviate the need for a public inquiry into the fitness of the Wal-Mart group to operate a bank in Canada? In that case, there would surely never arise the need for public inquiry whatever the character of the applicant,” Janigan wrote in response to the OSFI decision. PIAC was among the organizations raising objections based on Wal-Mart’s reputation (the character and integrity provision of the Bank Act) and on concerns over letting the world’s biggest retailer own a bank.
Dow Jones’ Andy Georgiades quoted the OFSI: “OSFI’s decision not to hold a public inquiry pursuant to the receipt of objections to an incorporation implies no judgment on its part about the merits of the objections or of the application.” In the U.S. Wal-Mart withdrew a similar application after strong protests from consumers, unions and banks.

Credit card payment holidays: Tell consumers about the interest rates

(PIAC-22/1/09) Option Consommateurs warned consumers that taking a credit card payment holiday means paying big interest rates on outstanding balances and everything purchased on credit while on “holiday” la Presse Canadienne reported on Jan. 19.
Option Consommateurs Anu Bose said: “Visa, Mastercard and the rest should be required to tell consumers taking a payment holiday means paying interest rates in the neighbourhood of 20% on the outstanding balance and new charges. There are many consumers who misunderstand the offer.”

Check your credit rating for mistakes: Files on 20 million consumers

(PIAC-22/1/09) “In an era of tightening credit, a credit expert is reminding Canadians to check with credit-rating agencies to make sure their files are mistake-free and up to date,” CBC News reported on Jan. 16.
“The country’s two largest agencies, Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada, keep files assessing the credit-worthiness of more than 20 million consumers. A 2005 study by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre showed that only 4.2 million Canadians, of 17 per cent of the population, had checked their credit ratings in the previous three years. Of those Canadians, 18 per cent uncovered inaccuracies. The vast majority of those people asked the agencies to correct the errors but it took, on average, four hours to get a problem-free credit report,” CBC News reported.

Fuel levy on Aeroplan reward flights: Subjective and arbitrary

(PIAC-15/1/09) Aeroplan customers booking “free” Air Canada flights face a lingering fuel surcharge, even though the levy was dropped by the airline four months ago on tickets sold for North American flights,” the Globe and Mail reported on Jan. 13.
“The fuel surcharge for reward flights is subjective and arbitrary,” said Michael Janigan, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.
“Consumer advocates complain that Aeroplan rewards have been eroded over the years, including a move in 2006 to strip members of their miles if their accounts are inactive for one year and placing a “date stamp” on points so that they expire after seven years,” the Globe’s Brent Jang reported.

Governments must govern
By Anu Bose and Michael Janigan

(PIAC — 9/12/08) Governments of the past two decades eagerly tore down the fabric of regulation built in the sixty years before to safeguard, health, safety, environmental and pocketbook concerns of ordinary Canadians. In its place, deregulation, reliance on market forces and promotion of industry self-regulation, became unassailable doctrines.
The problem with seeing deregulation as an objective, and not a means to objectives is that we have to rely on markets acting to benefit all, rather than simply the biggest players. In many key industries, such as banking, the biggest customers get the best deals. Without rules to ensure fairness, smaller customers lack the clout to compel reasonable terms of service.
Competition is a tool that can provide incentives for efficiency, innovation and consumer benefits. But the players in any market want to win the competition not simply compete. As in a hockey game, the government must act like referees in the market, enforcing rules that protect competitors and consumers from conduct that runs afoul of competition law, or consumer protection, environmental, health and safety standards.
Instead of committing themselves to becoming irrelevant in important markets such as airlines, telecommunications, energy, drugs or food, governments must look first to see if they are meeting the objectives of legislation and the expectations of Canadian producers and consumers in relation to what is being bought and sold in Canadian markets.

Airline fuel surcharges: Independent of price of fuel

(PIAC — 9/12/08) “In April, when it cost more than $1.20 a litre to fill up at the gas pumps, there was a fuel surcharge of $224 on Air Canada’s round-trip tickets from Toronto to London. Now that prices have slid below 80 cents? The Toronto-London surcharge has risen to $320,” the Globe and Mail reported.
“Like most international carriers, [we] maintain a separate fuel surcharge on international flights and this has been the case for years,” Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick says. “It is based, among other things, upon market conditions, competitions and our costs and we do adjust these from time to time.
“Michael Janigan, executive director of the Ottawa-based Public Interest Advocacy Centre, argues fuel surcharges are “entirely arbitrary” and have no direct relation to extra fuel costs at any given time. Airlines are misleading travellers, he says, by isolating this one aspect of overhead and elevating it to major status,” the Globe reported on Dec. 3.

Broadcasting Act: CRTC needs the power to award costs

(PIAC — 9/12/08) In a letter to the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage PIAC is calling for amendments to the Broadcasting Act to give the Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) the power to award costs to deserving public interest interveners, following the same procedure that exists for such interventions in the CRTC under the Telecommunications Act.
Last year, there were over 630 CRTC Telecommunications decisions made on applications made by carriers, service providers and industry stakeholders. Of that number, 21 had interventions that required the assistance of the cost award. The total of all awards paid by a handful of applicants was approximately $284,000.00.
This is not only because the vast majority of applications involve matters of technical or operational concern only, but also because the CRTC has been diligent in the application of the criteria for eligibility to receive such awards. There is little reason to believe that the experience will be significantly different if cost awards were extended to broadcasting applications.
In his Dec. 5 letter to Minister Moore, PIAC Executive Director Michael Janigan asked the Minister to re-introduce Bill S-8 be as a government bill. Bill S-8, which was passed by the Senate in April 2003 during the second session of the 37th Parliament, would give the CRTC the power to award costs to people who represent telecommunications consumers.

CIBC loses data on 470,752 clients: Treat it like money

(PIAC — 9/12/08) “Nearly half a million Canadians will likely never know whether fraudsters had access to their personal information because of inadequate security procedures at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the office of the federal privacy commissioner said” on Nov. 27 Canwest News Service reported.
“The investigation, launched 23 months ago after the disappearance of a hard drive containing the personal information and financial data of 470,752 clients, revealed the bank could not confirm whether that personal information was ever transferred to a hard drive in the first place.
“John Lawford’s assessment of the report isn’t so positive. The identity theft specialist and lawyer at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre said it exposes how CIBC treated personal information in a far more cavalier fashion than the cash it handled. “They should be treating it like money, and they weren’t treating it like money, even though personal information can be turned into money,” Canwest’s Sarah Schmidt reported.

Option Consommateurs rolls out a list of best and worst toys

(PIAC — 9/12/08) “With Christmas just around the corner, the Quebec consumer association, Option Consommateurs, yesterday released the results of its annual toy-testing survey. This year, 300 toys were tested for quality, playability, safety and overall value, including 252 new toys. Organizers said there are a number of good toys on the market this year. Of the 252 new toys, 186 were deemed “recommended” or “very good”,” the Montreal Gazette reported on Oct. 22.
The Gazette reported Option Consommateurs recommends: – Mont-a-Mots Pictos, a memory and association game by Lampiste, $25, 3 1/2 years and up – A make-it yourself colouring kit by Djeco, $25, 7 and up – Six, a strategy game from Fox Mind Games, $20, 7 and up
“Among this year’s worst toys: – The Kiddieland Light’n Sound Turtle, $22, 1 1/2 years and up – Crayola Beginnings Creativity Central, $22, 2 years and up – KidKleen Mold ‘n Play Soap, $6, 3 years and up – Crayola Model Magic Fusion, $10, 6 years and up – Kid Galaxy Bump ‘n Chuck remote-control Bumper Cars, $35, 6 years and up,” the Gazette reported.

Children’s privacy threatened by play websites

(PIAC — 9/12/08) A new PIAC report: “All in the Data Family: Children’s Privacy Online”, calls for amendments to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) that would prohibit collection, use, and disclosure of the personal information of children under 13 in Canada.
PIAC counsel John Lawford notes many apparently kid-friendly websites and social networking sites routinely use personal information of even young children for behavioural marketing and market research: “There quite simply are no special rules for use of kids’ personal information in Canada. Right now, Internet play websites like Neopets, Webkinz and social networking sites like Facebook use kids’ personal information for profit but are not making it clear that this is their business model.” The report concludes that such personal information collection, use and disclosure for children under 13 violates privacy in all cases and should be explicitly made illegal under Canada’s privacy laws.
The report also calls for prohibition of disclosure of personal information of children aged 13 to 15 to any other entity, including marketers. The report goes on to recommend that disclosure of personal information collected by websites only be allowed for information collected from children aged 16-18, and then only with the opt-in consent of the teenager and the explicit consent of the teen’s parent or guardian.

Bank Wal-Mart: Objection letter filed with OSFI

(PIAC — 9/12/08) “Wal-Mart Canada has been working on obtaining a Canadian banking licence for about two years, and global credit tightening is now expected to bolster its arguments with the federal government in Ottawa,” the Hill Times reported on Oct. 13.
“Sources say Wal-Mart has been active on the file in Ottawa for about two years, primarily trying to gauge reaction to its business plan with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions — Canada’s bank regulator. Although the minister of Finance approves the licence, the bureaucratic work and recommendations are done by OSFI.
Michael Janigan, executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottawa, acknowledged that that new entrants into Canada’s banking system are usually welcome, but said there is concern about potential “vertical dominance,” in which Wal-Mart could be involved in all aspects of consumer transactions, from financing to consumer spending to mortgages, inside and outside of Wal-Mart stores,” Hill Times’ Simon Doyle reported.
“In an objection letter filed by PIAC, the Ottawa-based consumer group focused on two of the eight criteria OSFI reviews in processing bank licences, one pertaining to Wal-Mart itself, the other to the industry. The first relates to “the general character of Wal-Mart.” The letter cited investigations and lawsuits faced by Wal-Mart in the U.S., while also noting the closure of a unionized store and unionized auto garage in Canada,” Dow Jones Newswire reported on Nov. 12.
“In general terms, we’re not particularly enthusiastic about the model that has banking services as part of the retailing services,” said Michael Janigan, PIAC’s executive director and general counsel, in an interview. “It smacks too much of the old ‘company store’ arrangement.” He said his organization didn’t oppose other retailers from starting banks. In fairness to Wal-Mart, Janigan said his group’s objection is more about eliciting a public discussion of the matter, and the only way to do that is by submitting an objection letter,” wrote Andy Georgiades, Dow Jones Newswire.

Making online banking and purchasing safer

(PIAC — 9/12/08) A new PIAC report: ’Are You Sure You Want to Continue?’: Consumer Authentication at the Crossroads,” calls for a major overhaul to Industry Canada’s “Authentication Principles”. The report laments the Authentication Principles’ failure to provide Canadian consumers with adequate protection when using the Internet to conduct business transactions such as online banking. The report offers a host of recommendations aimed at protecting the security and privacy of consumers who use electronic authentication to access finances or to shop online.
“Banks and retailers are not adequately protecting consumers who use their services online,” says John Lawford, Counsel for PIAC. “There is more they can do to reduce fraud and increase online security with little effort by upgrading their customer authentication systems but they have not been held to any real standard by these voluntary principles.”
The report notes that consumers are becoming increasingly wary of growing security and privacy risks, such as phishing, that are threatening the way they conduct online retail and banking transactions. In order to ensure consumer safety and confidence in online commerce, the report urges a greater role in the regulatory process be played by both the federal and provincial governments, and recommends that much stricter authentication regulations be applied to financial institutions under the Bank Act and other federal financial legislation.
To adequately protect consumers’ privacy while online, PIAC suggests the Authentication Principles be amended to include direct references to the standards of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and that consumers be given more choice in how to protect their privacy, such as the ability to decide which personal information will be used for authenticating them during an online transaction.

Barbara Cram and Janet Lo join PIAC

(PIAC — 9/12/08) Lawyer and consumer activist Barbara Cram was elected to the Board of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre on Nov. 1. She is from Regina and practiced law in Saskatchewan for in more than 18 years, most recently with the law firm Gauley & Co. From 1998 to 2007 Cram was as Regional CRTC Commissioner for Manitoba/Saskatchewan. Barbara Cram is an Honourary Life Member of the Western Association of Broadcasters.
Janet Lo has joined the Public Interest Advocacy Centre as the articling student for 2008/09. Lo is from Edmonton and has a LL.B. with a specialization in Law & Technology from the University of Ottawa. Prior to articling, she interned at the Canadian Internet Policy Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) under the mentorship of Philippa Lawson and David Fewer, working on issues in privacy law, competition law, identity theft, copyright and e-commerce. She also interned at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, examining privacy on virtual worlds such as Second Life. She is keen to expand her understanding of telecommunications and regulatory law during her time with PIAC and grateful to the Law Foundation of Ontario for this opportunity.

National Do Not Call List: Make registration permanent

(PIAC — 9/12/08) The National Do Not Call List (specifically, the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules) that govern telemarketing calls in Canada, can be improved. The term of registration for a phone number on the DNCL is three years. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre says, in the best interests of consumers, the registration period of a phone number should be made permanent.
This would remove the burden placed on consumers of having to re-register their phone number(s) every three (3) years, and place the onus on the companies making the telemarketing calls to update their lists according to re-assigned phone numbers.
CRTC has asked for public comments on these issues. PIAC is making submissions in these proceedings on behalf of the public as a whole. Individuals who want to add their voice can make a direct submission to:
http://support.crtc.gc.ca/crtcsubmissionmu/forms/main.aspx?lang=e

Bell TV Fee scam

(PIAC — 9/12/08) “Bell Canada Inc. says it is raising the price of its satellite television service in the new year to match rivals and pay for satellite upgrades. Bell’s television customers are receiving bills informing them of the increase, typically about $4 a month,” CBC News reported on Nov. 24.
“Bell, however, introduced a $3-a-month “digital service fee” at the beginning of 2008 to help pay for that same investment and maintenance. “It’s not fair, they’re both for the same service,” said John Lawford, legal counsel for the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. “How can you split off one fee and say, ‘We’re just using this fee to improve this part of our business?’ Overhead is overhead. The more you split fees, the more you can raise them because they look like they’re for different things.”
Lawford said there isn’t much consumers can do to avoid the rate hikes, given that both the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services do not deal with television pricing. As with cellphone and other telecommunications services, Lawford warned consumers to avoid signing long-term contracts or opting for the up-front bundle discounts that are offered for multiple services. Contracts are often worded in a way that gives the service provider the ability to change prices at any time, which potentially negates in the long term any discounts that may be gained in the short term,” CBC News reported.

PIAC Supports Rogers on text messaging spam: But CRTC doesn’t

(PIAC — 9/12/08) PIAC and Rogers Wireless is calling on the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to permit Canadian wireless customers to block unsolicited, unwanted text messages (SMS) through the Do Not Call List.
“Technology moves rapidly in Canada and innovative telemarketers will find a way to use available tools to their advantage,” said Ken Engelhart, Senior Vice President, Regulatory, Rogers Communications Inc. “Since an SMS is sent to a customer’s phone number, the National Do Not Call List is a clear opportunity for the CRTC to act now to protect consumers from unwelcome interruptions to their wireless service.”
On Nov. 3, Rogers applied to the CRTC requesting that text messages be covered by the Do Not Call List in the same manner as voice calls. Despite support on the matter from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, on November 13, the CRTC formally declined Rogers’ request. ‘SMS’ stands for Short Message Service and is commonly referred to as ‘text messaging’. Canadians send 54.1 million text messages per day. Rogers does not charge customers for incoming text messages.
PIAC is urging consumers who have concerns regarding the exclusion of text messaging under DNCL rules to pass along their comments to the CRTC through the following link:
http://support.crtc.gc.ca/crtcsubmissionmu/forms/main.aspx?lang=e

CRTC BDU decision ignores many consumer issues

(PIAC — 9/12/08) “Deregulation of basic service in cable broadcasting is not working. Cable fees have risen beyond the rate of inflation but in its decision the CRTC addresses only the lack of competition between distribution undertakings for acquiring broadcasting rights,” Michael Janigan, general counsel and executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) said on Oct. 30.
“Who is looking out for the interests of the ordinary consumer of television services who despite the billions earned by cable and satellite companies, can’t be guaranteed a basic package of television services for a reasonable price,” Janigan said.
“That would be “unnecessary regulation” It’s a double standard. When it comes to the feeding of the cable and broadcasting industry, there are plenty of rules and regulations to make sure they get fed and fed well. When it comes to the Canadian customers who pay the freight, they are on their own,” he said.
The BDU decision nixed the networks demand for “fee for carriage” where CTV and Global would charge cable systems for carrying their signal. Most of the changes won’t take effect until Aug. 31, 2011, when the broadcasting system switches over to digital.

Bye-bye to cellphone system access fees?

(PIAC — 9/12/08) The cellphone system access fee may be heading toward extinction with reports that Rogers Communications Inc. is relaunching its Fido discount brand without the hated charge. Industry observers said the company’s move is likely to spell the end of the system access fee, which is thoroughly hated by consumers,” CBC News reported on Nov. 3.
“It’s the number one complaint about cellphones,” said John Lawford, counsel for the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. “People are getting a little more traction with their pushback in a lot of telecom issues now. … We just might see the end of it. We’ll see them slowly disappear.
“Lawford warned, however, that the removal of the fee may not necessarily translate into lower monthly bills. At the very least, he said, the bills will be more transparent and easier to understand. “If their bill isn’t split into a thousand pieces, people will be able to see that,” he said. The relaunch would be an effort to head off increased competition from new cellphone providers that are starting up across Canada next year,” CBC News’ Peter Nowak reported.

Canadian Transportation Agency okays Air Canada fee

(PIAC — 9/12/08) The Canadian Transportation Agency ruled Tuesday that Air Canada is charging a just and reasonable fee to customers who want an extra level of service in the event of flight disruptions. Earlier this year, the airline introduced fees of $25 for one-way flights of up to 1,069 kilometres and $35 for longer flights.
The “On My Way” service provides a designated customer service line to take complaints, book and cover the cost of accommodation, meals and transportation for 48 hours, Canwest News Service reported on Nov. 4.
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre had filed a complaint arguing that Air Canada was trying to turn a carrier obligation into a revenue source. But the federal regulatory agency said PIAC failed “to provide compelling evidence to substantiate its allegations.”
However, it told Air Canada to ensure that its tariffs and communications clearly distinguish between the rights of passengers who purchase On My Way and others. All passengers must have equal access to the airline’s call centres and customer service agents to rebook passengers for next available flights, the transportation agency added.

$650 million phone bill: Supreme Court hearing next spring

(PIAC — 9/12/08) “The Supreme Court of Canada ruled (Sept . 25) that consumer and anti-poverty groups will be allowed to appeal an earlier decision by the country’s communications regulator on how an estimated $650 million held in deferral accounts will be spent,” Canwest News Service reported.
“The Consumer Association of Canada and the National Anti-Poverty Organization argued that now that the price cap is over, the extra money should go back to the consumers. But in 2006, the CRTC ruled that $350 million should be used to pay for broadband Internet service in rural areas of the country, while the remaining $300 million would be rebated to customers,” Canwest reported.
PIAC’s Michael Janigan represents the groups. If successful about 10 million local phone bill payers will be eligible for a $65 rebate.

High-interest borrowing pitfalls

(PIAC — 9/12/08) A new PIAC Report “Not Ready for Prime Time”, sets out some key findings of its research in the field of high-interest lending which includes payday loans and subprime mortgages. Among others, it pinpoints the early misuse of credit in consumers’ financial lives as a main factor in causing them to resort to high cost borrowing later in life, as evidenced by the outcome of focus groups conducted in Edmonton, Toronto and Vancouver. Somewhat surprisingly, one of the chief credit problems for focus group participants arose with student loans, particularly when the education for which it was undertaken was not finished.
“We have a program designed to better the life prospects of Canadians that, if the focus group results are borne out in the general population, may be a contributing factor to low financial status. That result would be exactly the opposite of what is intended,” says Esteban Uribe, the PIAC researcher who wrote the report.
The report notes the accepted view that the differences in the Canadian and American mortgage markets make a repetition of the recent events in the United States unlikely. At the same time, the report sets out concerns that, through financial vehicles such as securitization, risks of default appear to be increasingly transferred to investors and borrower households, possibly without their full understanding of the same.
The report makes specific recommendations for early consumer education, and stresses the need for transparency and better consumer awareness of the consequences of high cost transactions. It suggests that each province should independently review lending practices and control interest rates through public hearings not only to accord with the intent of the federal government reform to decriminalize usury in these transactions, but also with a view to protect the interests of users from onerous and abusive terms.

Cabinet Minister for Consumer Protection

(PIAC — 9/12/08) “The government must give consumers a voice in matters that concern them, for example, food safety, banking, privacy laws, telecommunications and copyright law,” says Anu Bose of Option Consommateurs. “It can do so by increasing opportunities for consumers to be heard at tables where only government and industry now sit.”
According to the Nanos Research poll, support for a new Cabinet level position for consumer protection is strong across demographic, regional and party preference lines with 45.3% of Canadians overall saying such an appointment should be a high priority, 36.6% saying it should be a medium priority, 11.6% saying it should be a low priority and 6.4% unsure. That support is highest among males (46.3% saying it is a high priority), Atlantic Canadians (58.1% saying it is a high priority) Canadians over 60 years old (51.2% for whom it is a high priority) and Bloc Quebecois supporters (50.8% saying it is a high priority).
The poll was conducted Sept. 20-22, for the Canadian Consumer Initiative (CCI) a coalition of six major consumer organizations: the Alberta Council on Aging Services, the Automobile Protection Association, the Consumers Council of Canada, Option consommateurs, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, and L’Union des consommateurs. CCI provides advice and assistance to enable the federal government to safeguard consumer interests.

National Do Not Call List—Making It Work Better For You

The Canada Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has recently posted a public notice on their website calling for comments on several key issues regarding the National Do Not Call List, and specifically, the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules that govern telemarketing calls in Canada. Of particular interest to consumers is the issue concerning term of registration on the DNCL.
Currently, the term of registration for a phone number on the DNCL is three (3) years, which means that each phone number must be re-registered on the DNCL every three (3) years. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) contends that, in the best interests of consumers, the registration period of a phone number on the DNCL should be made permanent. This would remove the burden placed on consumers of having to re-register their phone number(s) every three (3) years, and place the onus on the companies making the telemarketing calls to update their lists according to re-assigned phone numbers.
At this time, the CRTC has asked for public comments regarding these issues. While PIAC is pleased to be making submissions in these proceedings on behalf of the public as a whole, we are unable to carry individual consumers’ opinions to the CRTC, as comments pertaining to these proceedings are only accepted directly from interested individuals or parties. Those individuals who do wish to have their voice(s) heard on this matter may do so by making a direct submission to:
http://support.crtc.gc.ca/crtcsubmissionmu/forms/main.aspx?lang=e
Another issue of concern to consumers with regards to the DNCL is the fact that, at present, the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules do not apply to text messaging, meaning that DNCL-registered cellular phone numbers with text messaging capabilities are only protected from telemarketing calls they receive, but not from telemarketing text messages. PIAC contends that this does not take the best interests of consumers into consideration, but instead provides telemarketing companies with a loophole through which to continue contacting consumers who clearly do not want to receive unsolicited telemarketing communications. PIAC lent their support to Rogers in their bid to bring this issue forward during the upcoming CRTC review of the DNCL, however, Rogers’ request was denied by the CRTC.
PIAC would like to urge those consumers who have concerns regarding the exclusion of text messaging under DNCL rules to pass along their comments to the CRTC.
 

PIAC Annual Dinner Invitation November 14, 2008

The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC)
Annual Dinner Presents Featured Speaker
Barbara Cram, Former CRTC Commissioner, Lawyer and Consumer Activist
“Competition at Last…Nirvana?”
Friday November 14, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Yangtze Restaurant 700 Somerset Street, West, Ottawa
$50.00 Individual Ticket $450.00 Table of Ten
The Evenings Events Include:
6:00-7:00 COCKTAILS (CASH BAR)
7:00-7:45 KEYNOTE SPEAKER Barbara Cram, former CRTC Lawyer and Consumer Activist
“Competition at Last…Nirvana?”
7:45 BANQUET: A Ten Course Meal Featuring:
Pork Shui Mai and Vegetarian Spring Rolls
Hot and Sour Soup or Won Ton Soup
Vegetarian Special
Snow Peas with Fried Beef
Vermicelli Style Singapore Noodles
Sea Black Bass with Black Bean Sauce
Eggplant with Garlic Sauce
Szechuan Chicken
Special Fried Rice
Deep Fried Bananas – Cookies
Chinese Tea
To purchase tickets, $ 50.00 individual or a table for ten @ $ 450.00, please download and fax us the ticket order form below or call Donna Brady 613-562-4002 ext. 21 or e-mail at dbrady@piac.ca. Send faxes to 613-562-0007.
Payment can be made by Cash, Cheque, Mastercard, VISA, or AMEX .

PIAC Annual Dinner 2008 Ticket Purchase Form
Download File: PIAC_Annual_Dinner_2008_Ticket_Purchase_Form.pdf [size: 0.014 mb]