New Democrat credit card motion leads finance committee to Washington

The House of Commons Finance committee will leave tomorrow for a 3-day trip to Washington as the result of a motion introduced by New Democrat Consumer Protection Critic Glenn Thibeault, that  passed in April.

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The New Democrat Opposition achieved a major victory yesterday for all Canadians who are suffering from the abusive practices of banks and credit card companies as its motion to take action to protect consumers was adopted in the House of Commons.

"The banks along with the credit card companies are using the recession as an excuse to prey upon and gouge Canadians,” said New Democrat Leader Jack Layton. “A majority of Members of Parliament passed this motion on credit cards and now are calling on the Harper government to stop dragging its feet and do something meaningful to protect Canadians consumers.”

The motion, tabled by New Democrat Consumer Protection Critic Glenn Thibeault mandates the Harper government to create legislation that will protect consumers from the unfair practices of credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard. The motion includes measures to stop abusive fees and penalties; and ‘any time, any reason’ interest rate increases; and account changes. The legislation should also protect cardholders who pay on time and protect young consumers from aggressive credit card solicitation.

this motion calls on the government take real action