Mr. Speaker, on November 12th and 13th, I attended the Conference of Ministers Responsible for Consumer Affairs, which was held on Prince Edward Island.

Consumer Affairs Ministers recognize the importance of working together to better inform consumers about telemarketing fraud. More importantly, the Ministers agreed that there was a need to help enforcement agencies crack down on cross-border fraud and scams.

At our meeting, all Ministers agreed to sign the Cooperative Enforcement Agreement on Consumer Related Measures. In addition, CANSHARE, an information network, was launched.

Together, these initiatives will increase sharing of information on consumer protection issues. They will allow faster and better national tracking of deceptive telemarketing and other kinds of scams.

Mr. Speaker, a public education campaign will be launched in January 1999, which has been declared the International Year of Older Persons. The campaign is designed to inform all consumers, including senior citizens who are often a target of these scams.

In addition, Mr. Speaker, Ministers have agreed to harmonize the rules governing the cost of credit information to consumers. This will strengthen efforts to have one set of rules in place by the year 2000 for disclosure of information about the cost of credit by financial institutions and automobile leasing firms. With these new rules, consumers will have a legal right to obtain more information from businesses when they are borrowing money or leasing a car.

Mr. Speaker, our efforts in educating northern consumers and protecting senior citizens from telemarketing and consumer fraud is vital. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs recognizes this important role and is taking the necessary steps to ensure adequate protection of consumers across the north.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause