Life in Canada

It's been said that through chequing account banking fees Canadians are being taken to the cleaners annually. In fact, it's more like to the tune of about $185 per year but that's still $185 that could be put to better use arguably.

So suggests a 2010 study by Vision Critical commissioned by ING DIRECT Canada that finds more than half of Canadians (55 per cent) have a fee-based chequing account and on average, they dole out $185 per year in fees for these accounts.

"That average includes people that are paying monthly fees and most banks charge monthly fees in the range of $10-$15 per month. In some cases, these accounts are subject to additional fees on top of that," explains John Davis, head of product management and market research at ING DIRECT Canada in Toronto. "You might find other charges such as buying cheques for your account or viewing cheques online, a lot of banks charge for that. These types of things add up."

ING DIRECT has been in front and centre for many months pushing its no-fee chequing account message on Canucks through billboards, television ads, and Internet banner ads. According to Davis, the marketing campaign is working.

"Ultimately banks benefit when people deposit money into their accounts. This is how chequing accounts used to work in Canada. Not only would you not pay any fees but you'd actually get interest on top of that," he says. "We've had more than 100,000 Canadians set up a THRiVE Chequing account.

"Overall, we're also finding our clients are really happy with this account. We do regular surveying to see if they'd recommend this account to a friend or family member and the scores are quite high."

ING DIRECT Canada's no-fee daily chequing account, known as THRiVE Chequing, has reportedly saved Canadians over $18 million in unnecessary bank fees, and paid more than $100,000 in interest. "There's no minimum balance required to use THRiVE Chequing. This account actually pays you interest and it doesn't charge fees for daily banking," he adds.

Consumers can help themselves too by using cash instead of debit cards to make purchases or by avoiding a rival institution's ATM machines. But when it comes to fees imposed on investing in mutual funds for instance, Davis says those charges can be reduced by taking the time to shop around.

"Canadians are paying the highest mutual fund fees in the world," he says. "We pay substantially more than Americans do for essentially the same product. There's no connection between the amount of fees people are paying for investments and the market performance that those investments are going to get.

"Canadians should be looking at what they're paying in fees in the first place. The other thing they can do is shop for investments the same as you would for a car, TV, or anything else."

To that end, credit unions generally offer lower fees, higher interest rates and more personal service.

In any event, there are annoying, unnecessary fees for just about everything it seems. And one can't help but to wonder if former Goldman Sachs executive director Greg Smith's remarks on making the client the focal point of business again might be sound advice for financial institutions on this side of the border.

"With respect to banking fees, Canadians are operating under a myth that most of these transactions are being manually handled when in fact they're automated," Davis remarks. "We have a call centre that wins awards globally in terms of providing excellent customer service . . . that's a client experience we want people to have. We're also using technology to give Canadians better value."

Used to free U.S. soldiers for combat a disgrace.
March 15, 2012
Since the Canadian training mission in Afghanistan began last year, the federal government has said the purpose is to help Afghan army and police develop the skills needed to take responsibility for the country's security in 2014.

But shortly before visiting Afghanistan this past Christmas, Governor General David Johnston was told of another reason 950 Canadian troops have been deployed to Kabul and two other central Afghan cities: to free up United States soldiers for combat.

The statement is found in notes that were prepared in advance of Johnston's visit to Afghanistan, Kuwait and HMCS Vancouver in the Mediterranean and obtained by Postmedia News through access to information.

Since the end of the combat mission, Canada has become the second-largest contributor to the NATO training mission in Afghanistan after the U.S.

Shortly before the federal election call in March 2011, Defence Minister Peter MacKay authorized the deployment of Canadian military trainers to about a dozen locations around Kabul as well as to the towns of Mazari-Sharif and Herat.

The goal is to train 352,000 Afghan soldiers by the time Canada and its NATO allies leave in 2014.

According to the briefing note for Johnston, "locations and billets were based on ... where it was assessed that Canada could get the greatest effect on the ground and free up American forces to move to a combat role."

It's the first time such an objective has been mentioned. The Department of National Defence did not respond to questions Wednesday.

NDP MP Jack Harris said when the government announced the training mission, "it was all about setting up military colleges and classrooms."

"If what you're doing is freeing up soldiers to fight, then you're obviously contributing to the military mission," he said. "In our view the Canadian role should have moved to one of nationbuilding."

Mark Sedra, an expert on Afghanistan at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, did not know whether the redeploylot ment of U.S. forces would have an impact on that long-term goal.

However, he said the idea of Canadian troops deploying so Americans can hunt the Taliban has been controversial since NATO first arrived on the scene in 2001.

"They must have calculated that that sort of message would not be taken lightly by the Canadian public," he said.

"It's certainly not something that the Canadian government has been upfront about, the fact that the training mission would be used in that way."

Most Liberals probably didn't think Canadian troops would be freeing up U.S. troops to fight when the party supported the new training mission last year, Liberal defence critic John McKay said Wednesday.

But the revelation wouldn't have changed the party's position.

Rather, he said the bigger concerns are the actions of American soldiers in Afghanistan in recent weeks - such as burning Qurans, urinating on bodies and the massacre of 16 civilians - that put Canadian lives indirectly at risk.

"Those things to me are far more egregious and less anticipated consequences" of Canada staying in Afghanistan, he said.

HALIFAX – The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia (CCPA-NS) released a new report today showing that standards for Nova Scotia’s non-unionized workers are well behind the standards in other provinces.

“Workers in Nova Scotia are some of the poorest paid in Canada and this report shows that their basic conditions at work don’t fare any better,” said report co-author Larry Haiven. “If the NDP government is actually dedicated to making life better for Nova Scotia families, strengthening working conditions is one of the best and least expensive things they can do.”

The report, Labour Standards Reform in Nova Scotia: Reversing the War Against Workers, makes almost 40 recommendations for reforming the Labour Standards Code, including

Implementing overtime pay after 40 hours of work in a week;
Extending the Pay Equity Act to cover all workers;
Increasing statutory holidays from six to nine;
Increasing paid vacation from two weeks to three.

The report also recommends protection for workplace whistle-blowers, banning the use of lie detectors at work, the right of restaurant workers to keep their tips, stronger enforcement of the Code, better severance pay for laid-off workers, more and better leave availability, prorated benefits for part-timers and the right to refuse unreasonable overtime.

“All workers, regardless of whether they are union members, deserve dignity and fairness at work,” said Kyle Buott, co-author and President of the Halifax-Dartmouth District Labour Council. “The government needs to step up and protect workers from being exploited by employers. Changes to help the 68 percent of workers who are not in a union are long overdue.”

The report is now available: http://www.policyalternatives.ca

For more information or to arrange interviews in English or French, contact Christine Saulnier at (902) 477-1252 or (902) 240-0926.

The CCPA-NS is an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social and economic justice.

Reversing the War Against Workers
This report by Kyle Buott, Larry Haiven and Judy Haiven, confirms that standards for Nova Scotia’s non-unionized workers are well behind the standards in other provinces. The report makes almost 40 recommendations for reforming the Labour Standards Code in Nova Scotia and also recommends protection for workplace whistle-blowers, banning the use of lie detectors at work, the right of restaurant workers to keep their tips, stronger enforcement of the Code, better severance pay for laid-...

18
Minimum number of riding's in which Canadian voters were allegedly harassed or deceived about voter information during the 2011 federal election, spawning an Elections Canada investigation into voter suppression tactics. (Source)

43
Total number of riding's, to date, which Liberals and New Democrats claim received “false or misleading” phone calls during the 2011 federal election. (Source)

51
Number of close races in the 2011 federal election. (Source)

11
Number of House of Commons seats buffering the Conservative Party’s majority rule. (Source)

2
Number of companies linked, to date, to potential voter suppression-related election-time calls (RackNine and RMG). (Source 1, 2, 3)

0
Number of fake calls voice broadcast company RackNine claims it knowingly facilitated during the 2011 federal election, though Elections Canada allegedly traced fraudulent phone calls to a RackNine number. RackNine claims no knowledge of such tactics and is cooperating with Elections Canada’s investigation. (Source 1, 2)

10 million
Number of robocalls RackNine claims it made, out of 200 accounts, during the 2011 federal election. (Source)

94
Number of Conservative candidates who allegedly paid for RMG’s services in the 2011 campaign. Election-time staff from a Thunder Bay-based RMG call centre allege they were instructed to make calls to voters relaying false information.. (Source 1, 2)

1
Number of Conservative staffers publicly associated with the robocall scandal to date, though he claims no involvement. (Source 1, 2, 3)

5
Number of years a person can spend in prison for breaking Canada’s Election Act (or up to a $5,000 fine, or both. (Source)

More to come....