SASKATOON – A federal funding cut this spring of more than double what it expected, has curtailed activities of the Consumers’ Association of Canada.
“We knew there were going to be government cutbacks and we were working with our budget anticipating a 15 percent cut,” said CAC president Irene Seiferling of Saskatoon. “Then we were hit with a totally unexpected 40 percent cut.”
Two years ago the CAC had an annual budget of more than $800,000. Today, it is $140,000.
“You can’t function on that unpredictability,” said Seiferling.
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Individual donors have already helped to make up some of the shortfall. However, a fund-raising campaign takes money and energy, Seiferling said. “People are wonderfully responsive when we contact them,” but it’s easier to reach consumers in the cities than in rural areas.
CAC doesn’t believe in taking money from businesses since that might compromise the group’s objectivity.
Favoring business
While the immediate crisis concerns money, Seiferling is concerned about the long-term trend for governments to opt out of the consumers’ side in favor of business. The Saskatchewan government no longer has a consumer affairs department. Ottawa disbanded its Consumer and Corporate Affairs department and now 10 people in Industry Canada represent 26 million Canadians, while 100 civil servants are there for the business community, she said.
Governments must support both the supply and demand sides of the economy, Seiferling said.
“If there’s no demand for products and services, then business can close its doors. We represent the demand side.”
While CAC has been critical in the past of some rural initiatives such as marketing boards that give farmers a sure price for their products, Seiferling said issues the group wants to tackle “will have a strong impact on your wallet and mine.”
The emerging areas are complex – cuts to VIA Rail and airline service; the banking industry; telecommunications and the information highway; health-care reform; and tax reform.
Many consumers are turning to the Better Business Bureau and other non-profit organizations funded by businesses, to get redress.
The Saskatchewan bureau’s executive director, Eileen McLeod, said with government cuts in consumer help, her bureau’s business has more than doubled in the last five years. The Regina-based bureau is getting 60 to 70 calls a day. Some seek information about a business, but often there are complaints against member or non-member businesses.
The bureau will take any call from a consumer but charges $20 to handle a complaint against a business that’s not a member of the bureau. Member businesses agree to resolve any complaints.
The most common complaint depends on the season.
“In the summer, it’s home renovations, cars and mail-order businesses. In the winter, it’s work-at-home schemes.”
