Underneath the Golden Boy - Robson Hall Faculty of Law

148 Underneath the Golden Boy
(v) Finally, on the issue of timing, the RCC expressed their appreciation for
being heard by the Committee prior to the implementation of the legislation
and Mr. McInnes advised that he anticipated that the Government would
continue to consult with retailers and other interested parties prior to the
legislation coming into force. 89
D. Edward Bachewich, Private Citizen
The final submission with respect to Bill 4 was made by a private citizen, Mr. Ed
Bachewich. His written submission addressed many of the advantages and
disadvantages of gift cards that were discussed earlier in this paper. 90
Mr. Bachewich made a number of suggestions to the government regarding
gift card legislation. He suggested that expiry dates should be eliminated, that
the balance of a gift card should be redeemable as cash, that a gift card issued by
company no longer in business should be redeemable at an entirely different
business, that the value of gift card purchases should be held in trust until the
gift card is used, that gift cards should be cash equivalents, and that mail-inrebates
should be eliminated. 91 Some of these suggestions had far reaching
implications and would involve the government encroaching considerably on the
regulation of the retail industry which would likely attract a great deal of
criticism. The government did not amend the legislation to include any of his
suggestions.
E. Comments of the Critic from the Official Opposition, Mr.
Hawranik
Progressive Conservative Member Mr. Hawranik asked Mr. Selinger whether he
was going to specifically exempt the prepaid wireless cards from the definition
section of Bill 4 (or via the Regulations) or whether he was, in fact, planning on
exempting them at all. The minister dodged the question by stating that his
office still needed to clarify whether or not the prepaid wireless cards actually fell
within federal or provincial jurisdiction—given the fact that communications fall
within the ambit of the federal government. 92 Thus, the final word with respect
to the legislation’s applicability to prepaid wireless cards at the close of the
89
Supra note 71 at 30.
90
Manitoba, Legislative Assembly, Debates and Proceedings, LVIII No. 1 (4 December 2006)
[Debates (4 December 2006)] at 31-33 (Edward Bachewich).
91
Ibid at 32.
92
Manitoba, Legislative Assembly, Debates and Proceedings, LVIII No. 1 (4 December 2006)
[Debates (4 December 2006)] at 18 (Greg Selinger).