The proposed amendments to the Bank Act (Canada) (the Amendments) which would add a Financial Consumer Protection Framework (the Framework) (described in our recent post) will be withdrawn from Bill C-29. Bill C-29 passed third reading in the House of Commons and is currently before the Senate of Canada. News reports indicate that the Finance Minister, Bill Morneau, agreed to remove the Amendments from Bill C-29 in response to objections from the Government of Quebec, which objections had found support among certain senators. The controversial aspect of the Amendments provide that the provisions of the Financial Consumer Protection Framework are intended to set out a comprehensive and exclusive regime that is paramount to any consumer protection law of a province. According to news reports, to address the concerns raised by Quebec, the Finance Minister will ask the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada to review the Framework to ensure that it provides consumer protections that are at least as strong as those available under provincial law. Following this review, the Amendments will be introduced as a new bill. Stay tuned for developments in this continuing saga.
