Debates of November 29, 2007 (day 5)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wrote the Minister of MACA some time ago about my concerns about our lack of disclosure laws and consumer protection laws. The Minister wrote me back yesterday and I want to first thank the Minister for agreeing with me, because it’s quite obvious that the Minister denial training program hasn’t taken full effect yet because he did agree with a Member without a big study of saying no, no, nothing’s wrong. I see the Premier looking now.

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Wait a minute; he’s going to recall the letter. But in the letter, Mr. Speaker, the Minister of MACA pointed out that they’re well aware of this concern about the lack of disclosure and consumer protection and they’re currently working on it, taking note of the fact that when someone buys a house or a car, they’re typically the largest purchase that a person will ever make in their lifetime, yet they seem to have the smallest amount of protection. So when the Minister says he’s working on this and they’re well aware of this problem, what do they know and what are they actually really doing by action? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Return To Question 68-16(1): Consumer Protection Laws

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not sure if I was part of the Ministerial denial program that existed. I must have been bypassed by that. Mr. Speaker, there’s a number of areas that need to be improved in the area of consumer protection and we are looking at how we can provide better services, improve our services and improve our resources. The Real Estate Agents Licensing Act does have a statutory provision for disclosure that only applies to the salespeople and the agents. It doesn’t trickle down to the private sales. We need to improve in that area. We have to look at how we can do that. It’s going to require new legislation and will require new resources. We have to be able to identify that. That needs to be discussed with our colleagues here in the House as we set our priorities, if that’s an area we want to look at and invest in. We also need to look at the consumer mediation services. We also need to look at the additional demands being placed on us to increase our forms again. So there are a number of different areas and this is one of them that we have committed to looking at. We, however, have to see it as a priority from this government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 68-16(1): Consumer Protection Laws

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, again, if you buy a house, it’s probably the largest purchase you’ll ever make. But if you find out, later on, the foundation’s cracked, it’s full of mould, and you’ve been sold a song that it’s the best house in the world and all of a sudden you find out that, you know, no one will ever want to buy your house again and the fact that you can’t get insurance, you may run into trouble even getting a mortgage. Mr. Speaker, there’s no protection for these large purchases and that could break a hard-working family. So would the Minister agree that this is an important issue that could cripple a hard-working family, and would he tell me when they plan to move forward on this huge issue? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 68-16(1): Consumer Protection Laws

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, we’ll have to have discussions on priorities of this new government. This is an issue that we’d like to see further discussion on. We’re not sure how much priority we can place on it. We haven’t received any complaints in this area about this full disclosure issue. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 68-16(1): Consumer Protection Laws

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, if the Minister would like, I could provide him, too, as soon as we go upstairs, my couple of constituents. But the fact is, it isn’t so much that as we should be making sure we’re protecting our constituents. If this isn’t a priority, I don’t know what one is, Mr. Speaker, especially when he knows how difficult it can be. So the fact is, can the Minister bring back, before February, some kind of discussion paper to correct this problem, this lack of protection that we have for our consumers out there? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 68-16(1): Consumer Protection Laws

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, this is a priority for the Member and I think we’ve heard the same radio, CBC Radio report and we can probably contact those people that spoke. Our office has not had any complaints along full disclosure. I’d certainly be willing to sit down and have more discussion with the Member. We need to hear from the Members of this House where the priorities are in terms of investment. This is going to require new legislation, new investment, new resources, and an ability to police it. So we need to have that all packaged so that the Members could understand it and see what it’s going to cost. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 68-16(1): Consumer Protection Laws

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, no one’s suggesting we have to reinvent the new wheel. This type of law exists all over Canada, all over the U.S., so I’m not sure what we’re going to sort of reinvent. The fact is, this Minister could agree to a discussion paper before February so that we can fully address this issue and build it into the priorities. So would the Minister agree to commit to building a discussion paper so that we can look at the fullness of the issue and how it can possibly be implemented in this term? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 68-16(1): Consumer Protection Laws

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think we already agreed that we need to have further discussions. Mr. Speaker, I should point out that we are having discussions with other jurisdictions. We are talking with our federal and provincial counterparts, discussions on some of the Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan and the Consumer Measures Committee and others to see how we can move forward on this, to see what other jurisdictions are doing, and I’ll be glad to start looking and bringing something forward for committee to consider. Thank you.