Liberals accuse Ford government of playing ‘grinch’ over reward points but minister says nobody taking points away

Reward cards are pictured in this file image.

The Ontario Liberals are accusing the Ford government of being a “grinch” at Christmas when it comes to reward points, claiming their new legislation removes protections that prevent the points from expiring, though the government says it’s not so.

“The premier is sneaking through a piece of legislation that will allow everyday Ontarians’ reward points to expire, favoring big corporations over everyday Ontarians,” MPP Stephen Blais said at a news conference at Queen’s Park Monday.

Blais said Bill 46, a bill aimed at cutting red tape, also makes changes to the laws around reward points.

“It rewrites the Consumer Protection Act so that the premier and his cabinet can secretly write regulations that would allow reward points to expire,” Blais said. “Nobody campaigned on this. Nobody is asking for it.”

In a play on the Dr. Seuss character “the Grinch,” Blais added “you have to ask yourself, is the premier’s heart really two sizes too small?”

Schedule 5 of the bill proposes amending the Consumer Protection Act to replace rules regarding the expiry of rewards points provided under a consumer agreement with “general rules governing consumer agreements under which rewards points are provided.”

While the legislation would further authorize the cabinet to make regulations governing consumer agreements, government officials said Monday they have no plans to “take away” points.

Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Stephen Crawford said in Question Period the Liberals are wrong.

“Let me be very clear; absolutely nothing in our bill makes it easier for companies to take away your reward points,” Crawford said.

He said the legislation will in fact strengthen consumer protections.

“Businesses will have to respond when someone asks for their points back. If your points were frozen, canceled or disappeared, companies will now have an obligation to respond back to that and for the first time ever, you will have the opportunity to take legal recourse,” Crawford said.

Blais touted a law the previous Liberal government passed in 2016 that prevented rewards points from expiring, though it did still allow for some points to expire.

Points can still expire if the reward program closes accounts when a member is inactive for a long period of time and this is stated in the membership agreement; the program issues a voucher as a reward that is considered a gift card and cannot expire; or the reward points can’t be redeemed for any single item over $50.