Conservatives mislead Canadians by re-announcing old news

The Conservatives are continuing their pattern of misleading Canadians by re-announcing measures on pre-paid credit cards and gas pump accuracy that won’t even take effect until 2014.

“If they truly cared about protecting consumers, these regulations would have taken effect months ago,” said NDP Consumer Affairs Critic Glenn Thibeault (Sudbury). “It is downright wrong for the Conservatives to give the impression that they’re giving consumers a Christmas present when, in reality, it’s just a lump of coal—Canadians will continue to be ripped off well into 2014.”

Gas pump problems were exposed by an Ottawa Citizen investigation in 2008. Although the NDP immediately called for regulations and inspections, it took the Conservatives until March 2011 to pass legislation to address fairness at the pumps, which they still have not implemented.

“Instead of taking action to protect consumers who are paying taxes on phantom gasoline, the Conservatives wasted millions on ads to boost their failed Economic Action Plan,” said Thibeault.