In an attempt to stop payday loan companies from taking advantage of the poor, legislators in Canada are introducing a bill that would limit the interest rates that could be charged on easy loans. Many of these companies are on the record as charging as much as 400% on an easy loan, making it difficult if not impossible for consumers to pay them back.”Unfortunately, this government has completely missed the most important aspect – a cap on interest rates,” New Democrat MPP Cheri DiNovo (Parkdale-High Park) said in an interview. “The bill still permits payday loan operators to charge criminal interest rates.”"They don’t have payday lenders in Quebec – that’s the halcyon state that we want to get to here,” DiNovo said. “We don’t need payday lenders. Payday lenders are usurious. These are unnecessary services and they leech off the poor.”"The usefulness of this legislation is going to really hinge on the interest rate,” said James Wardlaw, head organizer with the Toronto chapter of poverty activist group ACORN Canada. “It’s either going to protect people and keep money from getting sucked out of low-income neighbourhoods or not, depending on what the interest rate is.”
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