Payday loans

Thursday March 31, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 31, 2022

It’s past time for action on payday loans

Sometimes, requests made of governments seem so eminently reasonable that it’s amazing they need be repeated over and over again.

March 6, 2021

In a report last week, ACORN, a non-profit group advocating for low- and moderate-income Canadians, once again asks the federal government to crack down on exorbitant interest rates charged by high-cost lenders.

The gaudy outlets offering payday loans and other such provisions of quick money at high cost are symbols of desperation on the main streets of almost all towns and cities.

They are the physical manifestation of an inequitable society — a divide both highlighted and aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As ACORN has long argued, the lenders profit off the most vulnerable.

The pandemic has worsened things for those on the margins, it said. Many of those trying to pay their bills turn to so-called payday loans — small, short-term loans with extremely high annual interest rates.

These loans don’t exceed $1,500, must be repaid within 62 days, and can carry interest as high as 500 per cent in some provinces. They are regulated by provincial governments and lenders are exempt from even the 60 per cent limit on interest.

Wednesday February 17, 2016

2016-02-17Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday February 17, 2016

Hamilton is Hot!

Unsurprisingly, both politicians claimed victory in the Great Sledding Showdown at the Garth Street reservoir this weekend.

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Friday November 13, 2015 Lobby begins as city to choose tobogganing hills Council has signed off on a plan to identify and make safe at least three city-owned snow hills this winter for sanctioned sledding - despite a long-standing bylaw ban. It could cost close to $40,000 for the city to add signage, hay bales, monitoring and any other required safety features to the as-yet unidentified hills. But the race to add favourite hills to the list has already begun - and the city could end up approving more than three official tobogganing spots. City staff have promised to report back this year on likely locations. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) Hamilton, Ontario, minecraft, children, sedentary, toboggan, tobogganing, winter, sports, fitness, litigation, legal

Friday November 13, 2015

Regardless, tobogganing fans were the clear winners Saturday as the city officially opened one of three sanctioned sledding hills, ending a much-maligned ban that earned unwanted international publicity for Hamilton last year.

“We’ve put the fun back in winter,” declared Mayor Fred Eisenberger before hitting the slope at the popular — and now legal — sledding hill. “And, ah, hopefully we have no more lawsuits … If anyone is thinking about lawsuits, just get back in the car.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator Ð Saturday January 9, 2015 Hamilton Harbour becoming giant goldfish bowl Millions of tiny ones are swimming around after a summer that saw weather and water conditions turn Cootes Paradise into a massive breeding ground for the carp-like creatures. The non-native fish species Ñ that people buy as pets and sometimes, ill-advisedly, release into local waterways Ñ have suddenly gone viral in the bay and have become the latest complication in its rehabilitation. It used to be that goldfish in the Ontario outdoors had a very low survival rate and little success at reproducing. But officials at the Royal Botanical Gardens and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada say that's been changing in recent years in the warmer weather we've been experiencing. They've noticed exponential increases in numbers being counted at the Desjardins Canal Fishway Ñ from 20 or less per year in the late 1990s to 2,500 this past spring. And early this winter, millions of five centimetre, young-of-the-year goldfish have been seen swimming in giant schools at various locations in the harbour, including the section of the canal below the railway bridge. "They seem to be heading toward taking over," says Tys Theysmeyer, the head of natural lands for the RBG. Becky Cudmore, an invasive species expert with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, says it's a problem being noticed at numerous locations in the lower great lakes, with Hamilton Harbour being a particular hot spot. "With increased warming trends we're seeing an increased ability of some fish species to survive in areas where we wouldn't think they could survive," she says. Theysmeyer says low water levels in the early summer in Cootes Paradise Ñ where fish tend to reproduce Ñ that suddenly rose later on also assisted goldfish reproduction. Shallow water is good for eggs, slightly deeper water is better as the tiny fish start to swim around. When water levels jumped 50 cms, d

Saturday January 9, 2015

Meanwhile, Hamilton Harbour has a new problem to add to its list of woes — goldfish.

Millions of tiny ones are swimming around after a summer that saw weather and water conditions turn Cootes Paradise into a massive breeding ground for the carp-like creatures.

The non-native fish species — that people buy as pets and sometimes, ill-advisedly, release into local waterways — have suddenly gone viral in the bay and have become the latest complication in its rehabilitation. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Friday December 11, 2015 Payday loan industry comes under microscope The province is moving to protect vulnerable people from cash stores and collections agencies Ñ but a local councillor calls the efforts "half-hearted." If passed, new legislation by the Ontario government promises to increase protections under the Payday Loans Act, Consumer Protection Act and the Collection and Debt Settlement Services Act. The aim is to provide safeguards such as a cap on the rates charged by cheque-cashing services, a grace period for repayment for customers of rent-to-own services and reasonable costs for optional insurance on instalment loans. It would also offer longer repayment periods for repeat payday loan borrowers, and expanded rules against unfair collection practices from businesses that purchase and collect overdue debts. But Ward 3 Coun. Matthew Green says the legislation "doesn't go nearly far enough in terms of really tackling the core elements and the predatory nature of this industry." There are 813 licensed payday lenders in Ontario Ñ more than there are McDonalds restaurants. Roughly 35 of those are in Hamilton, according to the ministry's online database. For starters, Green wants to see the "ridiculous" interest rates on payday loans slashed. Green put forward a motion this summer to limit and regulate these stores at a municipal level, which would have made Hamilton the first city in the province to do so. Staff is now looking into the feasibility of that. In the meantime, he and a working group made up of local agencies, including credit unions, are actively researching a model for a market alternative low-cost loan service. Tom Cooper, director of Hamilton's Roundtable for Poverty Reduction (HRPR), says he'd like to see provincial legislation that enables municipalities to license lenders at the local level. He agrees there's more work to do on this. "At the end of the day É these services are predatory by nature and they'll continue to take a

Friday December 11, 2015

Meanwhile, The City of Hamilton is ready to get tough on payday lenders with a triple licensing whammy.

Under proposed new regulations, payday outlets will each have to fork over a $750 licensing fee.

Each outlet will have to display a mandatory poster showing the whopping annualized interest rates of their loans.

And all outlets will be required to display credit counselling information to borrowers.

The staff recommendations are intended to help people understand the financial dangers of using the high interest loan services, which are widely seen as preying upon the desperate and disadvantaged. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Saturday, October 25, 2014Meanwhile, until now, it’s been a pie-in-the-sky idea. But the city wants to take the idea of gondolas into the mainstream.

City officials are intrigued by the notion of gondolas that would go up and down the Niagara Escarpment and have just added the concept to the transportation master plan (TMP) to get public input on the idea.

Transportation officials have been talking about gondolas for “two or three months now,” said Al Kirkpatrick, the city’s manager of transportation planning.

The city is reviewing its TMP to determine how transportation will grow in Hamilton over the next 30 years.

The team is hosting public input sessions in June, Kirkpatrick said. And as it does, it’s asking people about gondolas as a way of moving people between the upper and lower city. (Source: CBC News)

Friday August 28, 2015Friday August 28, 2015Meanwhile, “Hamilton,” the Broadway musical phenomenon, brought its thrillingly diverse hip-hop-infused narrative nationwide — and beyond — on the Grammy Awards on Monday.

As expected the show won for Best Musical Theater album. The award was presented on-air and creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda rapped his acceptance speech.

“We won a Grammy, mothef—ers,” director and star Lin-Manuel Miranda told a live audience — as he raised the award to the air — from inside the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York, the show’s home on Broadway. (Source: NY Daily News)

 

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Saturday, December 6, 2014Payday loan company is exchanging gift cards for cash at half their value

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, December 6, 2014

Payday loan company Money Mart is preying on vulnerable people by exchanging gift cards for cash at half their face value, and the practice should be stopped, Ontario’s opposition parties said Thursday.

The New Democrats distributed copies of a sign posted in the window of a Money Mart in Hamilton, which promotes “a new way to get fast cash” by trading gift cards for 50 per cent of their cash value.

Friday July 26, 2013“Why does this government allow Grinches like Money Mart to steal Christmas from our most vulnerable people in Ontario?” asked NDP consumer critic Jagmeet Singh.

“Forcing individuals who are already under a great deal of stress during the holidays to pay this extraordinarily high rate for an exchange is simply disgusting.”

Money Mart officials and the Canadian Payday Loans Association did not respond to requests for comment, but an employee answering the phone at a central Hamilton Money Mart confirmed the 50 per cent fee.

“It’s been pretty successful,” the employee said. The practice is being tested at Money Marts in Hamilton and Niagara.

Singh said Money Mart’s “predatory” scheme takes advantage of the fact many charitable organizations give out gift cards to clients to help them buy gifts and food for the Christmas holidays.

Tom Cooper, executive director of the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, wrote in an email that providing gift cards is “often a much more dignified approach than requiring people to line up at food banks or for Christmas hamper programs.”

“Unfortunately, it seems that Money Mart is piloting a project locally that seems to take advantage of this very vulnerable group.”

Cooper noted that others may get a gift card from a family member and want to exchange it, but that those people “may be having greater challenges paying rent or utilities during the holidays,” and, he said, Money Mart is taking advantage of “desperation.”

He said the issue needs to be fixed with legislation. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

 

Friday, July 26, 2013

Friday July 26, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday July 26, 2013

Heritage requirement a pain in the glass for Burrito Boyz

For SaleThe same Gore Park storefront that sat empty this time last year is now filled with daily diners, but the city’s focus is on the façade they say doesn’t fit with the character of the area.

Burrito Boyz, which opened in November 2012, was ordered to increase their glass frontage from 28 per cent to 80 per cent to obtain their establishment licence.

Leanne Dielschneider, who co-owns the business with Viktor Stosic, said they’re still paying off startup costs including more than $150,000 to renovate 66 King St. E. (which they rent). Extra façade work is an expense they hadn’t planned for.

Dielschneider, 27, said she and Stosic were aware of the glazing requirement (which falls under downtown heritage character guidelines) when they began renovations, but they were also trying to match the look of Burrito Boyz locations throughout Toronto.

She thought the city would be satisfied when they saw a bustling restaurant. Instead, she and Stosic received a notice two weeks after opening.

“I was told it was hard to open a business in Hamilton,” says Dielschneider, who grew up in Stoney Creek. “I was warned about that … It’s been a smooth ride other than this.”

Dielschneider said she understands the necessity of heritage policies, but finds the glazing issue insignificant compared to the benefits of having business in what was an abandoned space.

She pointed out other buildings within the Downtown Heritage Character Zone, which stretches along Gore Park from James to Wellington. (According to the city’s website, the zone guidelines are meant to be “a city building tool to protect built heritage resources and character in the downtown.”) (Source: The Hamilton Spectator)

November 29, 2006

Last month I drew a cartoon which compared ex-MP Stan Keyes’ appointment as President of the Canadian Payday Loan Association to Muhummad Yunnus, Nobel Peace Prize winner who pioneered microcredit loans to the world’s most poverty stricken. A comment was left yesterday under my blog entry concerning the cartoon from someone going by the name… yep… Stan Keyes. I don’t know if it is in fact from the ex Liberal Martinite cabinet minister, but it sure sounds like him:

Graeme MacKay does not know me. He has never taken the time to speak with me. He has broken the first rule of journalism and made assumptions. He has not done his homework on the Canadian Payday Loan Association. Graeme MacKay passes judgement, attacks then runs and hides. Pretty shameful.

I know he was pretty p-o’d after the cartoon ran. Complaints by Keyes were fired off to my boss, and he was offered the opportunity to defend Payday loans through an Spectator Op-Ed piece which has yet to be delivered and printed. Looking forward to reading it, Mr. Keyes!

In other news, local campaign scrutiny activist Joanna Chapman writes in that she’s a fan of my cartoons (at the bottom of the entry.)