MPP aims to end high interest rates charged by payday lenders
The McGuinty government just needs a push.
"I don't know why they're dragging their heels," said the NDP MPP en route from a demonstration staged by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which also attended her press conference that morning.
The bill would impose licensing requirements and would set a 35 per cent cap on interest rates. DiNovo said she hopes the Ontario government would emulate the legislation that Quebec brought in regarding payday loans - "hence they don't have any payday lenders," she said.
According to a United Way report released late last year, the number of payday lenders in Toronto has risen from 39 in 2005 to 317 in 2007. In the Parkdale-High Park area, that number is 24 and growing.
Research shows that interest rates by payday loan operations, when extrapolated to annual levels, range between 390 and 891 percent or more. DiNovo's Payday Loans Act would limit the annual interest rate on payday loans to 35 percent and require licensing in the industry.
"It's exactly apropos and at the moment," DiNovo said. "I'm not letting this rest and neither is ACORN."
She plans on tabling the bill as soon as the house sits in March - and there's talk it'll resume as soon as next month, she said.
The majority of these payday lending and cheque cashing outlets are located in low-income, family areas where money could be better spent on the necessities of life, she said.
She will call on the McGuinty government to put an end to these practices as soon as she can.
"We're working with ACORN on this," she said. "We'll stage mini-demonstrations on a monthly basis around the city to keep this issue in the public eye."
