Commentary
The poor you will always have with you. (Matthew 26:11)
Another thing that will always be with us: lenders making high-interest, short-term loans to the poor, who will then struggle to pay them back. This leads to yet another eternal condition: impractical moral judgments about such loans.
In this year’s federal budget, the Liberals declared they were “cracking down” on “predatory lenders who can take advantage of some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, including low-income Canadians, newcomers, and seniors.” To this end, Budget 2023 reduces the maximum legal rate of interest and imposes a new lower national fee structure on so-called “payday” loans….