CIBC Visa Cardholders Charged More Interest in Ontario than in Quebec

Cornwall ON -In the April CIBC VISA card statements, an updated Cardholder Agreement was enclosed explaining some recent changes.

Written in legal language that is difficult to read and understand, as of September 1, 2010 cardholders will be paying more interest on their purchases. It matters not that banks continually show record- breaking profits even during a recession, they consistently change the rules to skim more profit from the working class and middle class people.

I contacted the CIBC VISA Centre to confirm my understanding of these changes.  Here is a concrete example of how the new policy is intended to work.

A VISA cardholder has a balance of zero. He spends $100 in month #1 and makes a $10 payment.

The balance on the card for the next month will be $90 plus interest on the full $100 because only a partial payment was paid.

In month #2, the person spends $200 so the new balance will be $200 + $90 + interest + interest on all the new purchases!

In other words, the bank does not give you a chance to pay the $200 without interest, because a full payment was not made on the account the previous month. So essentially, the bank punishes you in month #2 because you only made a partial payment in month #1. The banks call this ‘residual interest’.

It gets worse.

This policy does not apply if you live in Quebec- only if you reside in one of the other Canadian provinces. In Quebec, the banks are not permitted to charge ‘residual interest,’ so using the above example, interest would not be charged on the $200 in month #2 if it was indeed paid in full by the due date.

In conclusion, there are several questions here:

Why is the Canadian government allowing the banks to charge residual interest at all, since it is unfairly punitive and adds large amounts of interest and creates more consumer debt. Why have the banks implemented this change in the middle of the worse global recession since the 1930’s, as people are struggling to stay out of debt?  Finally, why is Quebec the only province in Canada to get preferred treatment by the banks?

People in Canada need to send this letter or one similar to their MP and MPP asking them to investigate this matter, and put pressure on the banks to remove the residual interest clause before September 1, 2010, and put this money back in to the pockets of Canadian taxpayers, except those in Quebec who are already exempt from this usurious interest grab by the banks.

(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of the Cornwall Free News, their staff, or sponsors.)

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Ontario Liberals ‘Forget’ to Remind Taxpayers about HST Deadlines

Cornwall ON - In their latest outrageous deception, the Ontario Liberals have evoked a crucial May 1 deadline from the bowels of the Ontario Ministry of Revenue website, which is a slap in the face to all Ontarians.

The deadline means that people won’t have to wait until July 1^st to pay another tax- they can start paying it right now.

Here is the obscure clause, well hidden in a PDF file linked to the home page, and not readily apparent under ‘important’ dates:

“The HST would generally apply to consideration that becomes due, or is paid without having become due, on or after May 1, 2010 and before July 2010 for a supply of goods by way of sale, to the extent that the consideration is for goods that are delivered, and for which ownership is transferred, to the recipient of the supply on or after July 1, 2010.”

So even if a taxpayer could find the convoluted clause, there’s no guarantee that it would be easily understood. Basically it means that if the goods or services purchased between May 1 and July 1 will be used after July 1, then the HST tax is applied.

Suppose someone was planning on spending $5,000 on a summer cruise or pre-paying a funeral. If payment had been made before May 1, then HST would not be applied. However, after May 1 you can add 8%(the provincial share) of the amount. Your summer cruise or the funeral expenses will now cost you an additional $400.

What I find incredulous is that Minister of Trade, John Wilkinson traveled far and wide bringing the ‘good news’ about the HST to Ontarians: 600,000 new jobs and Ontario’s entry into the 21^st century and a better deal for Ontarians.  And of course, a little bribe to go along with the new tax in the way of cash rebates on our income taxes. All smoke and mirrors and devoid of the real reason for bringing on the new tax.

Ontario is now a ‘have not’ province in Canada for the first time in its history and is fighting for its economic life during this recession. So where does the government find revenue during tough times?  That would be from the pockets of taxpayers in the form of a new tax. Whether the new tax brings us new jobs is conjecture, and you can bet that the present government won’t be around to defend their claims.

Here you have a government that pretends it wants to help taxpayers save money, while bringing on a new tax that will outlive us all, while trying to sugar coat it by offering income tax rebates for only one year.

Since Wilkinson deceived the voters by not discussing the May 1 deadline, why wasn’t he asked the question at a press conference in Cornwall with Jim Brownell in attendance? Why didn’t MPP Brownell advise his constituents of the importance of the May 1^st deadline? People in this riding could have saved hundreds of dollars. My family saved over $600 in pre-paid funeral arrangements.

I also hold the media responsible. It is their duty to inform the public and in this regard they failed miserably. They ask the wrong questions and are just going through the motions.

People are getting fed up with the lies, the sleight of hand and the deceptions of government. Unfortunately the good work done in the riding by MP Brownell is tainted by the failed promises of his party, and debacles like the health tax, E-Health scandal, hospital funding and now the HST.

A sobering thought for the Ontario Liberals is that no provincial government in Canada has implemented the HST and lived to survive the next election.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the same fate were awaiting this government.

(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of the Cornwall Free News, their staff, or sponsors.)

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Cigarette Smuggling Out of Control

The latest media coverage in the Standard Freeholder concerning the incredible amount of cigarette smuggling through Cornwall and area is both shocking and puzzling, and raises more questions than answers.

We have been told that 90% of illegal cigarettes make it across our border each year, representing 50 million cartons. Cornwall, unwittingly, has become the recipient of these smugglers, who commit crimes as they cross the international border, but our community bears the brunt and the stigma attached to this activity.

My first question is:  Do we know exactly where the cigarettes are coming from?  RCMP Sgt. Michael Harvey has reported that there are 10 cigarette-making factories in New York state.  Do these establishments require permits to set up shop, and if they do, from whom?

With so many shipments coming across the border each day, there must be a few minor traffic jams on Highway 37 in New York, with vehicles loading up with cigarettes each day, and bringing their payload into Canada.  Cars are loading cartons of cigarettes in their back seats in full view. You would have to be blind not to notice.

What’s really going on here?

Secondly, with the advanced technology available today, and satellites capability of reading a licence plate from space, listening devices, surveillance cameras, telephone tapping, advanced communications interception, are we led to believe that the police forces have no way of following trucks and cars that fill their vehicles with cigarettes only a few miles from the border, and then cross the river by boat or at the land crossing on Cornwall Island.  I find this very hard to swallow.

As Harvey explained in last week’s S-F,  existing resources have resulted in stopping 15 loads out of 110, less than 15%.  The problem is not with the police at the local level. Where is the Conservative government leadership here?  MP Guy Lauzon is always talking about how important  ‘law and order’ is to the Conservative party. So, why has the smuggling increased under Lauzon’s watch, so much so that the Conservatives have turned it into a farce?

Meanwhile, lots of smugglers, often young people, are committing criminal acts and are enjoying easy money in a life of crime.  An increase in resources would mean that police could use surveillance and advanced technology for what is intended: to track criminal activity and if we did that, I believe that many smugglers would be driven right into the hands of law enforcement.

Finally, one last question must be asked. Who benefits from the status quo? Who is benefiting from the smuggling proceeds now? Bank accounts usually tell the story and no doubt there are millions of dollars being laundered every day from cigarette smuggling.

Use the Internet and follow the money trail to the top.

Admitting defeat to the smugglers is admitting that there is so much corruption in our system, that we are powerless to prevent it. Do you think that is true?

Either the governments lower excessive taxes and eliminate the smuggling that way, or they step up law enforcement efforts to curb cigarette smuggling before violence begins, in which case Cornwall and area would be adversely affected.

We are already looked upon as “the cigarette smuggling capital of Canada.” That reputation really illustrates just how bad the problem is.

Maintaining the status quo is not an option. Cigarette smuggling is out of control.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RAoNMmoy5s

We need to act now.

(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of the Cornwall Free News, their staff, or sponsors.)

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Lots of people and lots of organizations talk about the importance of good health these days, but there’s a world of difference between words and actions.  The ‘importance of diet and fitness’ make great sound bites, but there is so much misleading advertising and so many mistruths in what is being said.

First of all, take a look around and see the overweight people in the western world in 2010. Clearly, more than 50% of adults are overweight and about 20% are obese according to Stats Canada.  Child obesity has become a major issue now and with it a growing list of medical problems including diabetes and autism that have been related to poor nutrition.

Everyone agrees that these problems exist, but why are they are a problem today, and what needs to be done to correct them? Check out some old high school yearbooks from the 1960’s and 1970’s and you see very few overweight students, maybe less than 10%. So what has happened in society?

Let’s talk about the fast food industry that did not exist in its present form 40 years ago.  McDonalds, Tim Horton’s, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Subway and many others were not around.  If our society really wanted to ‘eat healthy’, people would stop eating prepared fast foods, which contain huge amounts of:  fat, sugar, salt, MSG, white flour and preservatives that provide temporary relief from hunger but which are toxic to the body.

This information should not come as a revelation to you. Don’t ever think that the big, fast food ‘corporations’ are concerned about your health. They are not. They may react to bad publicity like the movie about McDonalds’ food called  ‘Supersize Me’ by printing out nutritional pamphlets which only tell you part of the story. If you really want to see how the food chain is controlled rent the movie, “Food Inc” one night and you won’t believe what you are seeing.

Do you know who controls the beef industry in the United States? According to “Food Inc” it is McDonalds because they use so much beef they actually control the way it is produced- in slaughterhouses so vile that some people actually stop eating meat after they have watched the film. That means that the meat we buy in our grocery stores could be off the same assembly line as McDonalds’ hamburgers. That should give us pause.

But government will always come to our rescue, right? Just like the Ontario Liberals did before Christmas when they promised us the HST in 2010, so now we’ll be paying 13% tax on just about everything…but…not on fast food because according to McGuinty, the government did not want “to deprive busy, working people the opportunity to buy fast food on their way home.” Right, I wonder how hard the fast food companies had to lobby for that tax exemption!

Moreover, this is the direct opposite to the direction that the Liberal government should be taking. The Liberal government is reinforcing the idea to the public, that fast food is fine and necessary and should not be taxed. Therefore, people will continue to buy it, perhaps even more frequently because of the tax savings.

This kind of thinking is like a small plane going into a spiral dive. The chances of recovery become less and less the longer the plane remains in the spiral.

So it is with fast food, prepared food, sweet food, soft drinks, and increasingly much of the food in supermarkets. It is full of the wrong ingredients and lacks proper nutrition. The body can withstand it for a while, but the food eventually makes people fat, overweight and in some cases, obese.

That’s just for starters. Then the body, because it is being denied the proper nutrients, becomes weaker, and the immune system caves in to illness and disease. So many of the illnesses that exist today are due to poor nutrition, and some illnesses like autism, can apparently be reversed by changing one’s eating habits.

In summary, what has really happened in the last 40 years is that the food and drink corporations have become so big and powerful, that they exert total control over some of us. Adults and children are watching 3 and 4 hours of television every day, and are being inundated with commercials promoting food that is really just garbage for the body.

We all enjoyed the Canadian effort at the Olympics, the excitement and most of all, the excellence of the athletes. We know that all of these athletes were on specialized programs, carefully controlled diets and fitness regimes and were at the top of their game.

But look at the major sponsors of the Olympics: Wonder Bread, Coca Cola and McDonald’s!   Basically, the advertisers are suggesting that we, the audience, need to purchase these products so we can find ‘excellence’ and a ‘healthy’ lifestyle.  It’s almost laughable if it wasn’t so tragic.

I wonder how many of those Olympians had fast food on their diets in the lead-up to the 2010 games.

We are being duped by the food companies. They are killing us. It is time to wake up, kiss fast food goodbye and get on with our lives.

Kevin Parkinson is an occasional contributor to The Cornwall Free News.  To reach him visit his website.

(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of the Cornwall Free News, their staff, or sponsors.)

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Getting Ready For More ‘Shock Therapy’ in 2010?

Naomi Klein’s, The Shock Doctrine was one of the best books in the last decade to spell out how the world is moving towards a global government, disguised as a benevolent democracy,  in which nation states are brought to their knees at a moment’s notice. Economic shock therapy of all kinds, is the cheapest, most effective way to widen the gap between the rich and the poor, which has always been the goal.

Attacking the Chicago School and Milton Freidman, Klein shows in chapter after chapter in her latest book, that Freidman’s notion of bringing about rapid change can only happen effectively when people are deliberately “shocked” by their governments and leaders.

Freidman traveled the world to bring this message to politicians. After a natural disaster, terrorist threat, economic downturn, biological warfare such as a flu virus, or starting a war are examples of the conditions that are necessary before a government can bring about the change it desires.

Remember the ‘shock and awe’ of the invasion of Iraq. The newspapers and the television networks did their part in promoting the illegal war, with the Orwellian doublespeak at the bottom of the television screens, “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” In this case the people of Iraq were being shocked and terrorized, and the American people(most unknowingly) had their Constitution and their Bill of Rights gutted by the Patriot Act.  Huge steps were made in advancing a Police State in the U.S.

Watch the video clip at www.realitycheck.typepad.com which  shows the CIA have been working on this stuff since the 1950’s when they hired a Montreal doctor to research the effects of “shocks” to the brain as a way of interrogating and controlling people. They’ve been perfecting these techniques for 60 years!

Here in Canada we have Prime Minister Harper who has cancelled parliament until March. That means he won’t have to answer to the opposition parties until then, and the media is always carefully controlled anyway, so what’s coming up this winter that Harper needs that kind of separation from the taxpayers? Or will Canada advance its police state agenda using new laws against the Olympic Games’ protesters, who have already been referred to asterrorists- which is a carbon copy of the U.S. party line.  Once the Games are over, Canada will be saddled with these new laws forever, much like the provisions of the Patriot Act.

Here is a list of potential “shocks” that we need to watch for in 2010.

• Mortgage defaults in the United States, including commercial real estate, caused by higher interest rates

• Higher unemployment rate in the U.S.  is a foregone conclusion, and usually understated,  but the truthful figures can emerge when a real shock becomes necessary

• False flag terrorist attacks in any country could be orchestrated so that a terrorist act is staged to achieve a ‘shock value’ so that other necessary steps can be taken later.  i.e.  9/11, London subway bombings, Madrid bombings, Gulf of Tonkin, Pearl Harbour, burning of Reichstag, sinking of Lusitania)

• Biological Warfare refers to the use of man made viruses to be unleashed on the public to decrease the population, perhaps even geared to certain age groups and races. This dark side of science has been around a long time and is related to eugenics, or population control.

• Continuous War is a foregone conclusion. The United States does not want peace since the military-industrial complex needs war and the money from the sale of heroin and oil to survive.  i.e. new wars against Yemen, Iran and perhaps other middle east countries( a bit like the Crusades!)

Weather modification has been researched since the late 60’s and there is growing evidence that systems like HAARP in Alaska can heat temperatures in specific places in the world to cause hurricanes and other so-called natural disasters.

• Medicare legislation is the United States has been passed into law for 2010, and this will be the last straw for a lot of Americans. Faced with growing unemployment, the lose of their homes, and now the prospect of paying thousands of dollars for public health insurance will literally force Americans into the streets, which will result in the biggest protests since the 1960’s.

• Government legislation, in general, can cause huge shocks, so keep in mind that countries today are mostly one party states. Forget about the Republicans or Liberals or some other party coming to the rescue. That’s naïve thinking. They’re all in it together and people are starting to realize that now.  Basically, after an election a new party may be elected but they are still responsible to the same masters- the corporations which donated the money to get them there.  Same face, different mask.

So, what can we do to try to prevent some of these things from happening in 2010?

I have already sent a letter to MP Guy Lauzon opposing Bill C-60. Don’t know what C-60 is? Visit my site at www.realitycheck.typepad.com and you will see that we have American police forces at our doorstep.

I would suggest that we need a groundswell of local people in Cornwall and area exercising their democratic rights in 2010.

Call MP Guy Lauzon at 613-937-3331, click here, info@guylauzon.ca

Tell him just one thing that needs to change in this country.

Maybe start by telling him what you think of Harper proroguing parliament!

A short paragraph is all that is needed. We all need to step up to the plate and protect our eroding democracy.

I am predicting that the next couple of years will be really tough, so that means that we really do need to speak out now, while we are still able.

While I was on a travel tour in Tunisia in 2004, I spoke about the freedom of speech that we have in Canada. The guides said that they had freedom of speech in Tunisia as well. Then I asked them if they ever criticized their government, and would they send a letter to a newspaper stating those criticisms.

They both stared at me glossy eyed and their chins dropped.

“No”, they both answered. “We could never do that; our government wouldn’t permit it.”

The truth is you could be jailed in Tunisia for criticizing the government.

But here in Canada we have the right to criticize government.

But if you don’t use that right, guess what happens?

It is taken away from you.  At that point it will be too late to reclaim that freedom. We will have become a police state.

Kevin Parkinson is an occasional contributor to The Cornwall Free News.  To reach him visit his website.

(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of the Cornwall Free News, their staff, or sponsors.)

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