Taking action against payday lenders–in Canada, too

Supporting my favorite MPP…I have appreciated the public theology of Cheri and continue to learn about the unification of theology, politics, and life…read on…

MPP DiNOVO TAKES ACTION TO END CRIMINAL INTEREST RATES CHARGED BY PAYDAY LENDERS

QUEEN’S PARK – NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo in a press conference today, announced plans to re-introduce a Private Members Bill titled The Payday Loans Act, 2008 that governs payday loans by imposing licensing requirements and setting a cap on interest rates. DiNovo introduced the same bill last year.

“The McGuinty Government failed to do anything on payday lenders in their last term,” said DiNovo. “That’s why I am going to table this Bill again as soon as the house sits in March.” Research shows that interest rates by payday loan operations, when extrapolated to annual levels, range between 390 and 891 per cent or more. DiNovo’s Payday Loans Act will limit the annual interest rate on payday loans to 35 per cent and require licensing in the industry.

“This legislation will stop predatory lending practices that are detrimental for communities, because they attract some of the most vulnerable individuals to enter into a vicious cycle of debt,” said DiNovo. As stated in United Way’s report released in November 2007, the number of payday loan and cheque cashing outlets in the GTA alone are up from 39 in 1995 to 317 in 2007. The majority of these payday lending and cheque cashing outlets are located in low-income, family areas. “This government continues to allow payday loan companies to take advantage of poor communities,” said DiNovo. “I hope that the McGuinty Government will act on these criminal practices and pass my Bill in March.”

DiNovo was joined at the press conference by James Wardlaw and Edward Lanz, representatives from ACORN.

From a TORONTO STAR editorial
Time to curb payday lenders
Low-income earners who live from paycheque to paycheque have few places to turn when they hit a financial rough patch. Major banks have pulled out of many poor neighbourhoods, and those that remain are often reluctant to lend to customers with unsteady incomes and spotty credit histories. …On the opposition side, NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo is doing her best to make sure the issue stays at the top of the agenda by announcing this week that, when the Legislature resumes sitting next month, she plans to reintroduce a private member’s bill that would establish a licensing regime and cap annual interest rates at 35 per cent. That could put them out of business. In Quebec, which already has a 35 per cent interest ceiling, there are no legal payday lenders, according to an Ontario government consultation paper released last year. “To be biblical about it, this is chasing the money lenders out of Ontario, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” says DiNovo, a United Church minister, who adds that clamping down on payday lending “is simply an ethical call.”

Removing Visa Requirements for Polish Visitors to Canada

The Canadian Polish Congress has spent the last 10 years meeting with government officials and Ministers of Immigration to have the Visa requirements removed from Polish citizens visiting Canada.

In 2007 Members of the Congress and Polonia met with numerous Members of Parliament. They need one last petition to Prime Minister Stephen Harper to finally remove the Visa requirements this spring 2008.

The City of Toronto and the Toronto-Warsaw Friendship Committee have launched a postcard campaign for people to mail to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The Congress has also set up an electronic petition. To lend your support please visit to the following link: www.polishcongress.ca.