Conservatives would likely take aim at the banking sector to reduce fees and increase competition, MP Michelle Rempel Garner says

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A Conservative government is likely to take aim at the banking sector to reduce fees and increase competition, said Michelle Rempel Garner in conversation with John Ivison.

Rempel Garner and her colleague Adam Chambers raised the issue of e-transfer fees at a parliamentary committee this week, which has since passed a motion calling for the Competition Bureau to look into a situation where banks are making large profits from high fees and possibly using their dominant market position to restrict competition.

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But the Conservative MP said that e-transfers are only one area where consumers are getting soaked. “The e-transfer system is one drop in the bucket of the broader issue of competition in the banking sector,” she said.

“This doesn’t sound like a sexy topic. It oftentimes doesn’t come to the front burner of political debates. But it really does underscore both the affordability issues that Canadians are having (and) also this emerging concern, that is extremely valid, about Canada’s economic productivity. Is our economy sustainable? Will it be able to protect jobs or create jobs?

“I think it’s really fair to note that........

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