My question is for the Premier. Premier, the impact of the carbon tax is truly devastating for all Ontarians. Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer has warned that the federal carbon tax will cost the average Ontario family far more than they would ever get back in rebate cheques. The average Ontario household will have a net loss of $478 in 2023 thanks to the carbon tax, even after the rebate. But things are going to get much worse. The original carbon tax is going to keep going up until 2030, and the carbon tax on gasoline will also keep rising. According to the same Parliamentary Budget Office report, the carbon tax hikes will turn a $478-a-household loss this year into a staggering $1,820 loss in 2030.

Speaker, can the Premier please share his views on what impact the carbon tax is having on the people of Ontario?

Speaker, can the Premier please share his views on the opposition once again saying no to making life more affordable for the people of Ontario?

It’s always an honour and a pleasure to rise in the House, and to speak today about the Better for Consumers, Better for Businesses Act, 2023.

Madam Speaker, we were very excited to introduce this bill last week and highlight our proposals to strengthen protections for all consumers in Ontario. The proposals we have tabled for consideration will make life easier for the people of Ontario and businesses, particularly those in the increasingly online world where consumer habits and business practices are focused on digital service delivery. I think back on 2005 when this was first put into a bill. Where were cellphones back then? You look at it today. We’ve had so much development, so many changes in that time period, it’s amazing.

Our government is aiming to strengthen consumer rights and confidence, make it easier for businesses to comply with consumer protection rules and promote a fair and competitive economy. We have been given a strong and clear message to fight for the people of Ontario in a rapidly evolving and changing marketplace. And we want Ontario people to know we have been listening to them.

The proposed new Consumer Protection Act, 2023, reflects extensive consultation with the public and stakeholders over a three-year period from March 2020 until March 2023. The feedback we have received has been crucial to informing us about the proposed changes that we’re proposing in this act. The people of Ontario have told us they want us to take action to make sure their rights as consumers are protected. We listened and we are taking action.

As the minister previously explained, the existing Consumer Protection Act of 2002 is the primary legislation defining rules for consumer protection in Ontario. It’s a key piece of Ontario’s consumer protection framework and applies to most transactions between consumers and businesses. Through Consumer Protection Ontario, our ministry’s awareness program, we have promoted consumer rights under this act. However, since taking effect in 2005, the Consumer Protection Act has not been updated, and, Madam Speaker, Ontario’s marketplace has changed significantly since that time. The world we live in now relies heavily on technology. So, to better protect consumers, our proposed new act will modernize contract rules to adapt to changing technology and innovations in the marketplace. In addition, our proposed changes to the Consumer Reporting Act will improve and clarify the act and help people of Ontario monitor and protect their information and their credit scores.

The proposed new Consumer Protection Act, 2023, would support and enhance the current protections of consumer rights and make it easier for the people of Ontario to shop with confidence at home, online and in their communities. At the same time, the new act, if passed and once implemented, will streamline and clarify requirements for businesses and make it easier for them to understand and comply with the law. Additionally, it would also provide our ministry with new powers to help promote compliance and take appropriate action against those businesses who behave contrary to the acts or any of these regulations.

Madam Speaker, it has become clear that consumers need updated protections that reflect the realities of an online world and address high-impact consumer harms. The new act would, if passed and once implemented, better protect consumers against unfair business practices; reinforce consumer choice and rights in relation to contract amendments and automatic renewals; and provide fairer exit options from time-shares and long-term leases of home-related equipment, whether it’s HVAC or air conditioning or a water heater.

It is vital that we’re able to make informed choices when we buy goods and services in today’s marketplace. We believe the people of Ontario also have the right to understand their contracts upfront. Under the proposed changes, we are consolidating the various contract disclosure rules under the current act into a single set of core rules that would apply to most consumer contracts. Our proposed new act would require that key contract information be made prominent so consumers can be made aware and understand any long-term implications of the contract they choose to enter.

To be clear, our proposals are extensive. Let me share a few of them now. Let’s talk about business compliance. While we know the vast majority of businesses treat their customers fairly and honestly, it is clear that some are not really good actors and contravene those rules. If passed, this act would forbid unfair practices such as false claims of government oversight or authorization and bogus prize offers.

Let me give you an example. A homeowner was looking to acquire a more environmentally friendly water purification system for his home. The homeowner opted to go with a business that claimed it was endorsed by the government of Ontario. Disappointed with the purification system and later learning the claim of the government endorsement was false, they went to the Consumer Protection Act and found it was misrepresenting the homeowner, and he took no action.

Under the new act, it would include stronger, clearer examples of prohibited unfair practices, so that it is easier to understand that the business’ false claim of government endorsement is an unfair practice that entitles him to rescind and stop the contract immediately. In the event of an unfair practice taking place, consumers would have the right to cancel a contract one year after entering the contract or one year after the unfair practice takes place, whichever is later.

How many people in this room have had people knock on their door trying to sell them HVAC and being told that it’s part of an Ontario government program? I’ve had it happen to myself and to my wife in our house. It’s crazy.

Under the proposed new rules, we would also make consumer consent and choice paramount. The proposed new Consumer Protection Act, 2023, would, once implemented, limit the circumstances under which businesses could make unilateral contract amendments and conduct renewals and extensions without the express consent of the consumer. Any permitted automatic contract renewals or extensions would need to include the right of the consumer to cancel at any stage of the contract.

If passed, the proposed changes under this act would make it easier for consumers to cancel a subscription they no longer wanted. With the changes we are proposing in the Better for Consumers, Better for Businesses Act and the proposals to be set out in regulations, Ontarians would know that consent is required when businesses unexpectedly increase the price of a service. And if an automatic renewal does occur, the consumer would have the right to notify the business that they would want to terminate the contract because, under the act, there would be an ongoing right to cancel. These are fair changes that support competition and consumer choice.

During the three-year period that we consulted with various people and associations, we heard concerns about time-shares and long-term leases. The new act, once implemented, would address the issue of time-share properties. In cases where consumers find themselves and their families locked into an indefinite time-share arrangement that they can’t get out of, this would change. In some cases, the resale market gives the time-share no value and a time-share operator does not offer a buy-back or take-back program.

Let’s examine the case of a couple who owned their time-share for the past 26 years. As the couple ages, they begin experiencing mobility issues and have not been able to use the property as much as they would like. They’ve looked for a buyer, but without any success. The couple is still obligated to pay annual fees and is stuck with a property that provides them with no enjoyment, no value and, even worse, no ability to exit the contract.

Under the proposed legislation, this couple would be able to exit their time-share after 25 years by paying an exit fee, which would be determined by regulation. There are some details of the proposed changes that would be subject to further discussion to address the ongoing challenges that exist for time-share owners and what they face by offering a new exit option that applies to both existing and new time-share contracts.

Under the proposed legislation, our government would establish new rules for a new category of long-term contracts. This includes long-term leases of heating, ventilation and air conditioning, better known as HVAC, and other home comfort appliances. Homeowners in Ontario are much more likely than people in other provinces and jurisdictions to lease water heaters, furnaces and any kind of home equipment on a long-term basis—I’m one of those people; I rent my hot-water heater. This would include homeowners who have entered into a 10-year lease for a furnace assuming they could buy it out later if they no longer want to lease the product. After trying to buy out the furnace, a company can inform the homeowner that they need to pay all remaining payments of the lease agreement, equivalent to five times the value of the fixture. It is unfortunate that we hear of these situations all too often.

If the proposed legislation is passed and implemented, the people of Ontario would be informed that businesses must offer customers a declining buyout schedule for high-cost long-term leasing agreements. This schedule would set out the cost to the customer to buy out the contract and obtain ownership of the equipment at different points in the life of that contract, and it would decline over time. This schedule would need to be clearly and prominently disclosed as part of the initial contract.

As I said earlier, Madam Speaker, the proposed changes, if passed, would make it easier for businesses to understand and comply with consumer-protection requirements. Businesses, particularly small businesses, would benefit from clearer, easier-to-understand contract rules. In other words, it’s good for small business. Our government is following through on a promise to reduce the burden and complication of extra red tape so that small businesses can thrive.

For example, suppose someone in Ontario intends to launch a new business. In many cases, it can be confusing due to different sets of rules that govern disclosures under the existing Consumer Protection Act, which apply to different contract categories. These contracts encompass a wide range, including agreements for future deliveries and online sales that might even intersect with one another. Under the proposed new act, the prospective new business owner would be able to find and better understand the core set of rules he or she needs to follow as a business when growing their consumer base and confidently launch their new business.

Finally, our proposed changes would provide the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery with stronger compliance and enforcement rules to effectively enforce that act. When you think about it—the fines we have today, the enforcement rules from 2005 to 2023—we need stronger enforcement and compliance rules. These enhanced tools would include revisions to the scope of compliance orders and production orders, as well as information-sharing.

Madam Speaker, I want to stress that the stronger compliance and enforcement measures are not intended to add additional costs or burdens to business. In fact, these proposals aim to reduce the burden and better enable businesses to comply, while supporting competition on a level playing field with consistent rules by targeting and deterring bad actors. Our government will continue to explore and consider more ways to protect consumers.

As the minister stated, we are actively working to address and reduce the misuse of NOSIs, notices of security interest, against unsuspecting consumers. This is the one that bothers me, personally, the most. I was visited by the Waterloo Regional Police. A detective who came in to talk to me about NOSIs showed me videos of confiscated offenders’ phones—what they were trying to do to people. There’s been people that lost their livelihoods, their homes—and the one fellow, they figure that he got away with $150 million and then took his family and ended up in Dubai, and now the OPP is trying to find him. It’s sad. It’s clear there are some bad actors out there who are using NOSIs to exploit homeowners for their own financial gain.

We have seen there has been a sharp increase in the number of consumers adversely affected by having NOSIs on their title and—like the minister said, over 38,000 last year alone—the effect of which usually arises when they are trying to sell their home or access additional financing. The gentleman in Paris, Ontario, I spoke about before—he did not find out he didn’t own the house until he tried to sell it. That’s a sad state of affairs to be in.

We need a solution that keeps the people of Ontario, often our seniors, our most vulnerable consumers, from losing significant sums of money to unscrupulous actors. That is why we are proposing to require a buyout schedule, the details of which will be determined by regulations.

Furthermore, the new CPA proposes to provide consumers with an alternative to existing process in cases where the underlying contract is terminated, cancelled or rescinded under legislation, but the NOSI has not been discharged by the business. Currently, when a consumer disputes the registration of a NOSI, the consumer must apply to the court for an order to discharge the NOSI. The proposed new CPA would include provisions that would help to clarify business obligations to discharge NOSIs and allow the government to better help consumers seeking to discharge a NOSI when a business has failed to do so.

But we all know it’s needed beyond the Consumer Protection Act. That is why government is also consulting on a comprehensive range of proposed changes that would help to address the misuse of NOSIs.

Madam Speaker, I have addressed the modernizations led by my Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and mentioned some that are being led by my honourable colleagues in other ministries of this government. These initiatives are part of a legislative approach to increase consumer protection, encourage market innovation and support small business.

Our government will continue to seek out the best paths for the future of our province. We know that the world has changed significantly in the years since the Consumer Protection Act of 2002 was first introduced, and while the existing act provided a solid foundation for consumer protections, we propose to build on its intentions.

The proposed, new Consumer Protection Act of 2023, if passed, would ensure the people of Ontario are better informed and better protected when they buy goods and services, big and small, by phone, online and in person. These are vital changes that would continue to drive our province’s economic growth forward.

I am proud to be part of a government that is always working to improve consumer protection for its people and its businesses. The introduction of this bill represents years of hard work and I want to thank everyone in Ontario who provided their input into modernizing our consumer protections.