It gives me great pleasure to welcome to your House Willy Noiles. He’s from the Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups, and he’s here today representing the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada. I personally want to thank you for all your hard work, Willy, that you do on our riding association.

Madam Speaker, through you: In our fight for consumers’ rights, how can we strengthen our advocacy for seniors and other vulnerable populations to ensure they are adequately protected from scams and predatory practices underneath this new legislation?

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today in this fine House. I stand here and I represent the fine people of St. Catharines and of Niagara. It is my duty to ensure that the voices of the residents of St. Catharines are heard.

We are here today and we are discussing Bill 142, the Better for Consumers, Better for Businesses Act, which is a piece of legislation that promises to enhance consumer protection in Ontario. While there are aspects of this bill that are commendable, there are also areas that require careful scrutiny and potential amendments. Consumer protection and the need for clarity are paramount, especially in these challenging times when many of our constituents are facing financial hardships. Everything is going up in cost, and our residents across the province are definitely facing financial hardships.

The bill aims to repeal the Consumer Protection Act of 2002, consolidating provisions and moving others to regulations. But let’s definitely be clear: The people of Ontario deserve transparency. Shifting provisions to regulations raises questions about accountability and about accessibility. We need to ensure that the regulations are crystal clear, concise and easily accessible to all Ontarians, not buried within bureaucratic language—which often they become.

Our seniors across our province, many of whom reside in Niagara—I believe we are one of the most populated ridings with seniors in St. Catharines—are particularly vulnerable to scams and predatory practices, which is a shame. We have seen incidents where elderly individuals are pressured into contracts for goods and services they don’t need at a price they cannot afford.

A few years ago, my neighbour was leaving to go to work. He was rushing out of his door, ran out into his carport and was confronted by a very nice young fellow who explained to him about how he was selling air conditioners and furnaces. He was explaining the whole practice of what would happen and what a great deal it could be. Of course, the great fellow that my neighbour is asked the young individual, “Listen, I’m on my way to work. For this contract, do you get paid by the amount of contracts you get signed today or the amount of people you talked to?” And the young fellow said to him, “Well, yes, of course. If you sign here, then I can say to my boss that you have agreed to talk to me today.” So, okay, sure enough my neighbour, like I said, being the good fellow he is, signed the contract and away he went to work.

A couple of hours later, his wife was in the kitchen and she heard the ruckus of the removal of her two-year-old air conditioner and she went out—“What are you doing?” “Oh, your husband signed here”—and they were put into a very, very hefty contract that they didn’t agree with. You can imagine the complete panic that they went into because they had to pay this company that was basically ripping out their two-year-old air conditioner and there was no buyer’s remorse that they could go to.

The bill addresses misleading practices and unconscionable acts, but we must ensure that these provisions are strong enough to truly protect our seniors, like my neighbour. We need legislation that stands up for our elderly, ensuring they are not taken advantage of and that their rights are protected.

I could tell you several stories about individuals—seniors—that have come into my office that have liens on their houses because they’ve been taken advantage of by predators—not one water filter did they have, they had three. They were told, “This will be better,” and “This will be better,” and “You need it for the water.”

Madam Speaker, St. Catharines is a vibrant community of small businesses that are the lifeblood of our local economy. These businesses definitely need support and protections to thrive, especially in the face of the larger corporations.

Additionally, our region has seen a significant increase in housing prices that has put a strain on many families and individuals, and we need to ensure that the legislation addresses these local issues as well, providing protections and support where it is most needed.

Madam Speaker—wow, the time went by fast. I didn’t think 10 minutes would go by so fast—the bill introduces new provisions related to the purchase of cost-plus lease to door-to-door sales as I spoke about, areas that have been problematic in the past. While these provisions are a step in the right direction, we definitely have to get it right, right now. We must ensure that they are enforced effectively and that consumers are aware of their rights.

The increased fines for violations are a very welcome change, but again enforcement is key. We need to make sure the enforcement is there. We need to make sure the enforcement is there. We need a system in place that holds businesses accountable for their actions and ensures that consumers are treated fairly and with respect. I’ve got to repeat that because it’s so important: that businesses are accountable for their actions and ensures that consumers are treated fairly and with respect.

Madam Speaker, I’m going to conclude, and in my conclusion, while Bill 142 has the potential to—

Pardon?

In conclusion, while Bill 142 has the potential to enhance consumer protection in Ontario, there are areas that require further examination and potential amendments. As representatives of the people, here in this House, it is all of our duty to ensure that this legislation truly serves the best interests of Ontarians, protecting them from unfair practices, and ensuring that their rights are upheld. So I do, Madam Speaker.

At this time, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to carefully consider the implications of this bill and to work together to strengthen its provisions. Good things happen when both sides of the House work together. And we can protect our seniors, the most vulnerable in our communities. Make sure that these predators are not driving them out of their homes because they have put in, as I said, air conditioners that were not needed and made them get liens on their house, water filters that—again, thousands and thousands of dollars in liens. They can’t go to the bank and get a loan on their house because they’ve got liens on it from these predators.

So again, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to carefully consider the implications of this bill, and let’s work together to strengthen its provisions. The bill aims to tackle unfair business practices, but we must ensure that it also provides a level playing field for our small businesses, for our seniors and for the communities that we live in.

The problem is that the protection is not retroactive. We can work together to make sure that guidelines are put in place so that seniors are protected for the retroactive part that the predators have already taken advantage of and basically robbed the seniors and residents. Like I said, my good neighbour who works for a living and now has thousands of dollars can’t go retroactive on what this predator has taken from him, from his life savings, actually. So you can imagine the anxiety of these residents in your riding as well. We can work together to make sure all our ridings across Ontario—

Thank you to my colleague. Yes, we’ve been partners in crime, I guess, in politics for a few years. I thank you for that question, from the member from Niagara Centre.

It’s very concerning when we have and I can just—I won’t use his name, but he came into my office in tears. He was disabled and he lived in his home. He had been taken advantage of by this predator that actually put in a lien against his home for, like I said, three to four water filters, a furnace and an air conditioner. The lien was against his home. He couldn’t get a new scooter that he needed because he couldn’t get the loan from the bank because of the money that he owed these predators that kept taking advantage of him and kept going back to this elderly gentleman’s home and saying—and may I say that it’s unfortunate—

I think that it should be retroactive. If they’ve already taken advantage of an individual of anyone’s riding in this House, any senior or any individual, they should have to—

There is never enough protection for our seniors when it comes to their life-savings and when it comes to a lien on their home and when it comes to what they have in the community. As we see in other bills and legislation, they want to stay in their homes and they feel, where their memories are, that they’re protected and they’re safe and there are safeguards. But when it comes to the bad actors or, may I say, the predators that come and make them sign—

The bill aims to tackle unfair business practices, but I guess we must ensure that it also provides a level playing field for small businesses at the same time. So, yes, we have to make sure small businesses are protected.