While major media outlets were busy covering the federal
Liberal policy convention in Montréal on February 22, 2014, there was another
significant political development that day which needs to be heard. In 141 ridings across Canada, a total of 2,172 volunteers mobilized for
the NDP’s first National Day of Action to promote their affordability campaign. I was part of this campaign with MP Peggy Nash and fellow members
of the Parkdale High Park NDP riding association. While canvassing, I found most of those who answered the door expressed their support and signed the petition, which Peggy confirmed in an earlier blog post.
The NDP’s affordability campaign has five elements – four of
which were pursued when Jack Layton was leader – and is in response to record
debt levels, in which Canadians owe $1.65 for every dollar they make. The
elements are the following:
- Capping ATM fees at 50 cents per transaction. For withdrawals from ATM’s not owned by a customer’s financial institution, such fees can be in excess of $3.
- Expanding availability of no frills credit cards capped at prime plus 5% for a total of 8%.[1] In comparison, many credit cards charge over 20%. Certain financial institutions will offer lower rates, but charge an annual fee.
- Cracking down on payday loans, which are considered to be loans of last resort. The maximum charge allowed in Ontario is $21 per $100 borrowed over a two week period, which leads to an annual rate in excess of 500%.[2]
- Ending gas price gouging by making collusion between companies illegal and enforceable under the Criminal Code.
The fifth element is banning pay-to-pay schemes, which is a
recent trend of companies charging their customers a statement fee of up to $2
in order to encourage online billing. However, online billing may not be ideal
for certain demographics such as (but not limited to) seniors. These issues may not be significant up front, but they do add up and addressing them can
be achieved in the short term, which can attract voter attention.
How are other
political affiliations addressing affordability?
Thanks in part to pressure from the federal NDP, the
Conservative government pledged to take action on payday loans and made banning
pay-to-pay schemes part of their 2014 Budget.[3] Their
budget also included measures such as capping wireless roaming fees, cracking
down on cross-border price discrimination, and developing a financial consumer
code.
In Ontario, both the NDP and Progressive Conservative parties
supported eliminating the provincial portion of the HST (8%) on essentials such
as hydro and home heating in the 2011 provincial election, as well as condemned the recent
talk of levying gas taxes for transit expansion. Regarding gas taxes, the PC’s reason
was “available efficiencies” while the NDP called out the Liberals’ planned tax
cuts for corporations and the wealthy. The NDP secured a 15% reduction in auto
insurance rates in the 2013 budget and currently has a campaign on hydro rates.
The PC’s website has white papers discussing these two subjects, but focus on reducing
bureaucracy and insurance fraud.
Affordability can also mean increasing the minimum wage.
Recently, the Ontario Liberals approved a minimum wage hike from $10.25/hour to
$11/hour and pegged future annual increases to inflation, which the NDP called
for in 2011. The NDP announced today they support a $12/hour minimum wage, while labour organizations support
a $14/hour minimum wage, which they claim would put full time workers 10% above
the poverty line.
Final
thoughts
While identifying short term affordability fixes can capture voter attention, affordability can also be achieved via long term
measures. These include transit and cycling infrastructure (reduces gridlock
and automobile expenses), affordable housing, and expanding Medicare to include
things such as prescription drugs (reduces long term health costs). There are
many other ways affordability can be addressed, but what matters most is making
it relevant to the issues you believe in and taking action.
To close off this post, here is a clip of NDP leader Tom
Mulcair making the case for affordability leading up to the National Day of Action.
Happy canvassing!
Rob Z (e-mail)Follow @RZaichkowski
[1] The current Bank of
Canada prime rate is 3%, which would make the credit card rate 8%.
[2] Mike Crawley. CBC.
“Ontario wants to revoke licence of payday cash stores.” http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-wants-to-revoke-licence-of-payday-cash-stores-1.1307424?cmp=rss
[3] Government of
Canada. “Budget 2014.” http://www.budget.gc.ca/2014/docs/plan/ch3-4-eng.html
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