(April 2020)

Both watchdogs too weak in powers, and enforcement attitude, to protect financial consumers and investors

The federal government’s Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) has a very weak enforcement record since it was created in 2003.

It has made only 134 compliance rulings, is prohibited from naming a law-violating bank unless it prosecutes the bank, and it has only prosecuted 2 banks (neither of them a Big 6 bank). The FCAC not only lacks resources by comparison to the similar watchdog agencies in Britain and the U.S., it is also clearly a lapdog compared to these two other agencies.

According to an article by Reuters in March 2017, and Democracy Watch’s research of fines imposed since then, the FCAC has issued fines totaling just $3.2 million since 2001 in the 134 rulings it has issued.

In contrast, since 2013 when it was created, Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has already issued penalties totalling more than US$3.5 billion, and since 2011 when it was created, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has already imposed fines of more than US$5 billion.

Key consumer protection rules need to be strengthened, and the FCAC must be required to do unannounced, mystery-shopper audits to find violations, required to publicly identify financial institutions who violate the rules, and required to impose high fines on violators. The FCAC hasn’t done unannounced audits since 2005, tipped off the banks in March 2017 about the audit they did through the rest of 2017 on abuses, and then allowed the banks to see the draft audit results and suggest changes that weakened the report.

Meanwhile, former Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, and current Finance Minister Bill Morneau, have done nothing to require TD, Royal, Scotiabank or National Bank to stop using their own complaint judges and return to the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI).

An FCAC report released in February 2020 showed that the banks have a horrible record of dealing with financial consumer and investor complaints, especially the banks using their own complaint judges.

The maximum fine allowed under the Bank Act is $10 million, which is still low for the big banks who each make more than $10 billion in revenue annually, especially given that it is very unlikely the FCAC or a court will ever impose the maximum fine.

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) and the Ombudsman (OBSI) will continue to be ineffective until the federal government gives them key powers and requires them to use those powers to audit banks and other financial institutions regularly and to penalize every violation with a high fine (the maximum fine should be $50 million) and public naming and shaming.

For more information, see Democracy Watch’s
Big Bank Coronavirus Accountability Campaign

(December 2024)

Controlling the market, and gouging out world-leading, record profits year after year for the past decade, while reducing service and treating many customers unfairly

According to Finance Canada, despite the lowering of barriers to competition 20 years ago under a World Trade Organization agreement, Canada’s Big 6 Banks:

• Bank of Montreal (BMO)
• Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)
• National Bank
• Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
• Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)
• Toronto Dominion Bank (TD)

control 93 per cent of all banking assets, and are more profitable than comparable banks in other countries, and than small banks in Canada, and Canada’s corporate sector overall. The big banks control of the market essentially allows them to gouge and abuse customers with excessive fees, high interest rates (especially on credit cards). As a result, government regulation is needed to stop them.

The federal government bailed out the banks with $114 billion in mortgage purchases during the financial industry fraud crisis in 2009. It hasn’t required the banks to do anything in return for that bailout, or for the protections from foreign competition that the government has given the banks since 1967.

Canada’s Big 6 Banks reported, yet again, excessively high annual profits totalling $51.28 billion in 2024, $30 billion higher than their 2010 profits, all reaped through gouging their customers with excessively high credit card and other credit interest rates and mutual fund and other banking fees.

The banks gouged all Canadians who had loans back in 2015 by failing to lower their interest rates as much as the Bank of Canada had lowered its interest rate, and then the banks abused everyone with savings accounts by failing to increase their deposit account interest rates as much as the Bank of Canada when it began raising its interest rate in 2022.

Canada’s Big 6 Banks also paid their CEOs an average of $11 million each in 2023, and the average increased to $12.3 million in 2024 – 55% higher than in 2008).

Canada’s Big 6 Banks handed out $23.75 billion in bonuses to their employees in 2024, 12% more than the $21.2 billion total in bonuses.

The federal government also continues to refuse to make the Big Banks pay their fair share of taxes. Canada’s Big Banks pay a tax rate of only 16% — lower than banks in other G7 countries. The Big Banks also exploit tax loopholes more more than all other Canadian big businesses. England imposed a permanent annual excess profits tax on its banks in 2011, and Australia did the same in 2017.

For more information, see Democracy Watch’s
Bank Accountability Campaign

(December 2023)

Democracy Watch’s letter-writing campaign and petition call for the following key bank accountability changes needed to make Canada’s Big Banks give everyone a break on interest rates and fees, pay their fair share in taxes, and treat everyone fairly, now and after the coronavirus crisis is over:

1. Require banks to cut credit card interest rates in half now (as they are at a gouging level now, and always have been excessively high), and allow people renewing their mortgages to re-renew without a penalty at a lower interest rate if interest rates decrease over the next few years, and require them also to lower all their interest rates at exactly the same time as the Bank of Canada lowers its interest rate over the next few years;
2. Require banks, trust and insurance companies to promote in their mailings and emails to customers that they can join an independent, consumer-run Financial Consumer Organization (FCO – as recommended in 1998 by the MacKay Task Force, and the House Finance and Senate Banking committees) so consumers have a place to call for help if they are gouged or treated unfairly, and to get fully independent, expert advice (See details at: https://democracywatch.ca/question-and-answers-about-the-proposed-financial-consumer-organization/) and also require the banks and largest mutual fund companies to promote in their mailings and emails to customers that they can join an independent, consumer-run Individual Investor Organization (IIO – as recommended by an Ontario legislative committee in 2006) so they have have a place to call for help if they are ripped off or treated unfairly, and to get fully independent, expert advice (See details at: https://democracywatch.ca/question-and-answers-about-individual-investor-organization-iio/);
3. Require banks to disclose the profit level of every part of their business (credit cards, mortgages, lines of credit, each other type of loan, bank machines, and investment and insurance divisions) after fully independent audits (overseen by the Auditor General);
4. Require banks to keep all their interest rates and fees at a level that gives them no more than a reasonable profit (for example, many U.S. states cap credit card interest rates);
5. Require banks to disclose detailed information about how many people and small businesses apply for credit cards and loans or all types, and loan interest rate cuts or other relief, and accounts, and how many are approved and rejected, by type of borrower and customer, and require corrective actions if a bank discriminates against any type of borrower or customer (as the U.S. has required banks to do for 40 years);
6. Require the banks to re-open basic banking branches in every neighbourhood that offer low-interest rate, small-value lines of credit to everyone to stop predatory lending across Canada (including through partnering with Canada Post outlets for postal banking, as TD started to do in November 2022 but then paused and then cancelled);
7. Strengthen key consumer protection rules, and require the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) to do unannounced, mystery-shopper audits to find violations, and to identify violators and fine them (the FCAC hasn’t done unannounced audits since 2005, tipped off the banks in March 2017 about the audit they did through the rest of 2017 on abuses, and then allowed the banks to see the draft audit results and suggest changes that weakened the report) and establish an independent, effective whistleblower protection system for the employees and everyone else who has any interactions with any financial institution;
8. Require all banks to be covered by the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments, and allow financial consumers and investors to complain directly to OBSI without having to go through a financial institution’s internal complaint system, and make OBSI’s rulings binding;
9. Require the FCAC to name every bank and financial institution that it finds has violated any rule and, given the big banks each make billions in profit annually, to fine violators a minimum of $1 million for each violation, and a sliding scale of higher fines must be required to be imposed up to the maximum $50 million penalty for the most serious, systemic violations;
10. Close all the loopholes that allow Canada’s banks (and other big businesses) to evade paying taxes in Canada by pretending they make their money through companies they own in low-tax countries, and impose a special tax (as England and Australia have) on any Canadian business or bank that has excessively high profits like Canada’s Big Banks have had in the past several years, and;
11. Require the Big Banks and other financial institutions to cut the pay of their CEO and other top executives to no more than 40 times their lowest paid employee (as in some European countries).

To see more details about why enforcement needs to be strengthened as proposed above in points #6-9, please click here.

For more information, see Democracy Watch’s
Bank Accountability Campaign

BACKGROUNDER
(October 28, 2019)

Democracy Watch testified at the House Committee’s hearings on Bill C-76 in June 2018 and highlighted all the serious flaws in the bill that are set out below, along with 20 or so other changes needed to ensure fair, democratic elections and strong enforcement – changes that Democracy Watch submitted to the Special Committee on Electoral Reform and to the government in fall 2016.

Democracy Watch’s recommendations were almost completely ignored by the Trudeau Liberals, as were the recommendations of many experts, a House Committee (made up of a majority of Liberal MPs), the Chief Electoral Officer, and the Commissioner of Canada Elections.

The key changes needed to ensure honest, fair, democratic federal elections in the future are as follows:

To stop secret, fake online election advertising by anyone (not just foreigners)

1. Bill C-76 only prohibited big social media companies from knowingly running an ad paid for by a foreigner or foreign entity (section 190 of the Bill, adding new subsection 282.4(5) to the CEA), and requires them to publish a registry of election-related ads and maintain it for two years (section 208.1 of the Bill, adding new section 325.1 to the CEA). Those measures will do nothing to stop secret, fake online election ads paid for by Canadians or Canadian entities, and will do little to stop foreign-paid ads as the social media companies will just claim they didn’t know the ads were paid for by foreigners.

To see details of the key changes needed to actually stop secret, false, online election ads by foreigners and Canadians, click here.

To require honesty by everyone during the pre-election and election periods

1. Bill C-76 does nothing to strengthen subsection 482(b)) of the Canada Elections Act, which prohibits false election promises by parties and candidates but needs to be strengthened because the Commissioner of Canada Elections negligently refuses to enforce it. The Commissioner responded to Democracy Watch’s complaint about Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau baiting voters with his false promise of electoral reform during the 2015 election with a decision refusing to enforce the rule;
2. Bill C-76 also made false claims about candidates legal by narrowing the rule that prohibit false claims, and requiring proof of intent to affect the election (section 91 of the Canada Elections Act). The current rule prohibits any false claim “in relation to the personal character or conduct of a candidate or prospective candidate.” Bill C-76 narrows the rule so it only covers false claims that these people (or a party leader or officials) violated the law or have been charged or investigated for a violation, and false claims about the citizenship, place of birth, education, professional qualifications or membership in a group or association of these people. Senators tried to amend Bill C-76 to restore the broader rule but the amendment was rejected.
3. The words in section 91 requiring that to charge someone with making a false claim you have to prove they made the claim with the “intention of affecting the results of an election” also must be deleted because it is almost impossible in many cases that they had that intention (the Chief Electoral Officer and the Commissioner of Canada Elections both called for this change, and the change summarized above in #2, when testifying before the Senate Committee that review Bill C-76).

To stop wealthy interests from dominating pre-election and election campaigns

1. Bill C-76 more than doubled the spending limits for third party interest groups and individuals during election campaigns from approximately $200,000 up to $500,000 (section 224 of Bill C-76 changing subsections 350(1) to 350(4.1) of the Canada Elections Act (CEA)). The Trudeau Cabinet claimed this increase was needed because the spending limit is being extended to cover election surveys and “partisan activities” such as door-knocking, phone calls and rallies. However, only citizen groups do those kinds of activities (businesses usually only spend money on ads), and social media and email have significantly lowered ad costs for third parties. The limit for ad spending should be decreased back to at least $200,000 (if not lower, an assessment is needed to determine the actual current costs of reaching voters across Canada), and new, separate limits should be set for spending on surveys, and spending on partisan activities.
2. Bill C-76 also set meaninglessly high limits of $1.5 million for party ad spending and $1 million for third-party (interest group) ad spending during the 60-75 days before the election campaign period begins (section 223 of Bill C-76, adding sections 349.1 to 349.94 to the CEA). The pre-electionm limits are meaningless because, as this past summer proved, it is highly unlikely that any party or third-party will spend anywhere near those amounts during July and August – the only times the limits apply (as the pre-campaign limits only apply when the election is held on the fixed election date of the third Monday in October). As well, the pre-campaign limit only applies to “partisan advertising” that promotes or opposes a party or a candidate, not to issue-based advertising. The limit should be lowered, and extended to cover issue ads.
3. Bill C-76 also didn’t lower the much too high donations limits that allow wealthy people to use money as a way to influence politicians, including the annual individual donation limits for 2019 of $1,600 to each party and another $1,600 to the riding associations of each party (both increase each year by $25). Bill C-76 also doesn’t lower the $5,000 amount an election candidate can give to their own campaign or the $25,000 a party leadership candidate can give to their campaign. To actually have a democratic political finance system, all these limits shold be lowered to $100 and, if the parties can prove they need it, per-vote and matching public funding should be established.

To see details, click here.

To protect privacy of voters, and all Canadians

Bill C-76 also didn’t do enough to require political parties to protect the private, personal information they collect about voters, as it only requires that they publish their privacy protection policy on their website (sections 254-255 of the Bill, changing section 385 and adding section 385.1 to the CEA) instead of extending federal privacy laws to cover parties.

The House of Commons Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics issued its report in December 2018 on stopping secret, false online election ads, and protecting voters’ privacy, and recommendations 1-3, 6-8, 10, 19, 22-24 match the changes that Democracy Watch has been calling for in these areas.

Celebrity promo videos showing before movies in 160 Cineplex theatres across Canada

Please air the videos as PSAs on your TV or radio station (the audio track) before Oct. 21st – click here to see them on the VoteParty.ca website, and click here to see them on VoteParty.ca’s YouTube channel, and please contact [email protected] if you need them sent to you in order to air them as a PSA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, October 11, 2019

OTTAWA – Today, VoteParty.ca released its second Canadian celebrity montage video calling on voters to Make a #VoteDate with a non-voter – all part of VoteParty.ca’s campaign to increase the number of voters, especially young voters, who vote. The video will be shown before movies in 160 Cineplex Entertainment theatres across Canada starting this Friday until Oct. 17th.

The second video features David Suzuki (environmentalist and host of CBC TV’s “The Nature of Things”), Lindsay Broughton (country singer), Greg Bryk (actor on Space TV’s “Bitten” and in Brad Pitt’s latest film “Ad Astra”), Mary Walsh (comedian and former co-host of CBC TV’s “This Hour Has 22 Minutes”) and Rick Miller (comedian, creator of the “BOOM” and “BOOM X” theatre shows, and former host of “Just for Laughs” TV show).

Last Friday Cineplex starting showing VoteParty.ca’s first Canadian celebrity montage video featuring Rick Mercer (comedian and former host of CBC TV’s “Rick Mercer Report”), Elena Juatco (actress from ABC’s “Open Heart” and CTV’s “JANN” show), MAGIC! (#1 song “Rude” and other top songs), Ashley Callingbull (actress and Mrs. Universe), and Michelle Morgan (actress from CBC’s “Heartland”).

Cineplex Entertainment has generously donated the cost of showing the videos at its theatres. Both videos are also available on VoteParty.ca’s homepage, and along with many other videos can also be seen on VoteParty.ca’s Celebrity Videos webpage.

VoteParty.ca isn’t urging young voters to vote, it’s inviting young voters to Make a #VoteDate at VoteParty.ca with a non-voter and take them to vote with you.

Don’t vote alone, Vote Party together.

Many other celebrities are also supporting the partner initiative VotePromise.ca including George Stroumboulopoulos, Patrick McKenna and Julian Taylor.

All are invited to come to the national #VoteParty on October 21st election night. Share your reaction to the election results, and what’s going at your local Vote Party, on Twitter with #VoteParty, and on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/events/394589891203780/.

Vote Party promises to be a great party.

VoteParty.ca is an initiative of Democracy Education Network, since 1993 one of Canada’s leading civics education organizations.

Let’s get this Vote Party started!

– 30 –

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Coordinator of VoteParty.ca
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: [email protected]
Internet: http://VoteParty.ca

Regardez l’annonce vidéo PartyVote.ca avant chaque film dans tous les cinémas Cineplex le 4-17 octobre

Fixez un #rendezvousdevote à PartyVote.ca avec une personne qui ne vote pas

COMMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE
POUR DIFFUSION IMMÉDIATE
03 octobre 2019

OTTAWA – Aujourd’hui, PartyVote.ca a lancé sa nouvelle initiative nationale visant à augmenter le nombre d’électeurs, notamment les jeunes électeurs, qui votent.

Regardez l’annonce vidéo PartyVote.ca, avec Florence K, musicienne et animateur du programme radio « C’est formidable », avant chaque film dans tous les cinémas Cineplex le 4-17 octobre. Vous pouvez regarder l’annonce aussi ici et http://PartyVote.ca.

PartyVote.ca n’exhorte pas les jeunes électeurs à aller voter, il invite les jeunes électeurs à fixer un #rendezvousdevote avec un jeune qui ne vote pas et d’aller voter ensemble.

Ne votez pas seul, allez voter ensemble.

Ensuite, venez au #PartyVote national le 21 octobre au moment de la soirée électorale. Partagez votre réaction aux résultats des élections et dites ce qui se passe à votre « party » local sur Twitter et Instagram en utilisant le mot-clic #PartyVote, et sur Facebook à : https://www.facebook.com/events/982691178745019/

Le « party vote » se promet d’être une grande fête.

PartyVote.ca est une initiative du Réseau d’éducation de la démocratie, l’une des principales organisations canadiennes d’éducation civique établie depuis 1993.

Commençons maintenant ce « party » pour célébrer le vote!

– 30 –

POUR OBTENIR DE PLUS AMPLES RENSEIGNEMENTS :

Duff Conacher, Coordonnateur
Cell: 416-546-3443
Courriel: [email protected]
Internet: http://PartyVote.ca

 

VoteParty.ca ad running before all movies in Cineplex theatres across Canada Oct. 4-17 with message:
Make a #VoteDate at VoteParty.ca and take a non-voter to vote with you

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, September 30, 2019

OTTAWA – Today, VoteParty.ca launched its national effort to increase the number of voters, especially young voters, who vote in the federal election, following up on its successful effort during the 2015 fall federal election that reached 3.5 million people across Canada.

The launch includes a Canadian celebrity montage video on the http://VoteParty.ca homepage featuring Rick Mercer, MAGIC! (#1 song “Rude”), Ashley Carlingbull (actress and Mrs. Universe), Michelle Morgan (from CBC’s “Heartland”) and Elena Juatco (from CTV’s “Jann”).

Cineplex is generously supporting this initiative by showing the VoteParty.ca video before all movies in 162 Cineplex theatres across Canada from this Friday, October 4th until Thursday, Oct. 17th. The company will also be livestreaming the federal election leadership debates in 24 of its theatres across the country. Canadians can reserve free tickets by visiting http://Cineplex.com/Events

VoteParty.ca will also soon release videos by many other well-known Canadians, as will its partner initiative http://VotePromise.ca.

VoteParty.ca isn’t urging young voters just to vote, it’s also encouraging them to:
Make a #VoteDate with a non-voter and take them to vote with you.

Don’t vote alone, Vote Party together.

And then all are invited to come to the national #VoteParty on October 21st election night. Share your reaction to the election results, and what’s going on at your local Vote Party, on Twitter with #VoteParty, and on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/events/394589891203780/

Vote Party promises to be a great party.

Anyone who wants to invite other people in their area to a local Vote Party on October 21st can upload their party details, and if they want send out invitations at: http://www.voteparty.ca/vote_parties

VoteParty.ca is an initiative of Democracy Education Network, since 1993 one of Canada’s leading civics education organizations.

Let’s get this Vote Party started!

– 30 –

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Duff Conacher, Coordinator of VoteParty.ca
Cell: 416-546-3443
Email: [email protected]
Internet: http://VoteParty.ca