{"id":11201,"date":"2022-02-24T14:26:08","date_gmt":"2022-02-24T19:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.canage.ca\/?p=11201"},"modified":"2022-02-24T14:28:27","modified_gmt":"2022-02-24T19:28:27","slug":"open-letter-to-federal-finance-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.canage.ca\/open-letter-to-federal-finance-minister\/","title":{"rendered":"CanAge calls on Finance Minister to make complaints process against banks fair for seniors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CanAge co-wrote an open letter to federal Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland calling on her to establish a designated, single ombuds organization to handle consumer complaints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve been advocating on this issue<\/a><\/span><\/strong> for some time, as current practices put customers (and especially seniors) at a major disadvantage when resolving disputes with banks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Older Canadians must be fairly represented at the table when leveling complaints against the financial institutions that purport to serve them, and making the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) the single dispute resolution provider for all banking services and investments in Canada is integral to making that happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full content of the open letter follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Strengthening Canada\u2019s Complaint-Handling System for Bank Customers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On behalf of the coalition of concerned consumer advocates, FAIR Canada has sent the following open letter to Minister of Finance<\/em> and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland<\/em>, calling on her to take action to establish a designated, single ombuds organization to handle consumer complaints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Minister Freeland:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As concerned financial consumer advocates, we are calling on you, Minister Freeland, to designate the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) as the single, ombuds organization with binding authority to make recommendations over the banks. We encourage you to act expeditiously on this critical government commitment in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broad consensus is that the current framework for complaint-handling is not working for many financial consumers and there is an urgent need for improvement. We are therefore encouraged that Prime Minister Trudeau, in his December Mandate Letter<\/a>, specifically requested that you establish, on a priority basis, \u201ca single, independent ombudsperson, with the power to impose binding arbitration, to address consumer complaints involving banks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Mandate Letter\u2019s reference to \u201carbitration\u201d is unclear, the need for a single ombudsperson with binding decision-making power in Canada is a clearly stated issue that we strongly support. Mandating a single not-for-profit ombudsperson would be beneficial in improving the complaints-handling outcomes for Canadian banking customers, particularly those who lack the capacity, time and\/or resources to successfully navigate an opaque and confusing complaint resolution landscape with multiple players with diverse interests. This is an important objective that many of us, together with other investor and consumer advocates, have been urging industry, regulators and governments to implement for more than 10 years.1<\/sup>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Designating OBSI under the Bank Act and providing it with the authority to make binding decisions on banks is necessary to advance consumer protection, improve access to justice, and foster fairness and confidence in Canada\u2019s banking sector. More specifically:<\/p>\n\n\n\n