I write to follow up on my earlier letter regarding charging $1 to mail every hydro invoice to city residents who do not sign up to receive their hydro invoices electronically. In my earlier letter I used the term downloading to describe charging residents for this service. In the corporate world it’s called something different: pay to pay.
Last year, the federal government blocked telecommunication and cable companies from charging fees for mailing paper invoices, but banks were excluded from the legislation. However, as of June 1, the NDP introduced a motion to abolish banking fees charged to people who receive paper invoices. Moreover, the Harper government has agreed to support the motion and said it hopes to pass legislation regarding this before the House rises at the end of this month.
If the federal government realizes the wrongness of pay to pay in the corporate world, and plans to do something to stop the wrong, how come city council doesn’t realize the wrongness of it in the municipal world?
Andrina Iliffe
Penticton