Ontario Liberals accuse Ford of plotting rule change that could let loyalty points expire

Now that December is here, Premier Doug Ford is being accused of preparing to attack a Christmas favourite.

It’s a program that Canadians love all year round, not just Christmas. But it can help them get through times like the holiday season, when money can be tight.

The opposition Liberals call it a scheme to limit how much companies pay out in loyalty points by letting the points expire.

They suspect Ford is aiming at points that are lost if they’re not redeemed.

“The premier is sneaking through a piece of legislation that will allow everyday Ontarians rewards points to expire, favouring big corporations over everyday Ontarians,” said Liberal MPP John Fraser.

Rewards Canada says some points expire when an account is not active but points that disappear if not redeemed are protected by the Consumer Protection Act.

The Act prohibits “the expiry of rewards points due to the passage of time alone.”

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The provincial government has introduced new legislation that would add “except in accordance with the regulations.” Those regulations have yet to be written.

“If you don’t intend to change the regulations to allow loyalty points to expire, why would you give yourself that power?” said Liberal MPP Stephen Blais.

The opposition says the ones who’d benefit from the change would be big corporations that wouldn’t have to pay out the points.

The Ford government accuses the opposition of scare tactics and says it’s actually strengthening consumer protection.

“Absolutely nothing in our bill makes it easier for companies to take away your rewards points,” said Stephen Crawford, Ontario’s minister of public and business service delivery.

“[Canadians] work hard and they save up their rewards points to spend them over the holidays,” said Liberal MPP Rob Cerjanec.

CHCH News asked the premier’s office a number of times Monday if they would say they’ll never let points expire – they didn’t directly answer the question.

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