MEDIA ADVISORY: Ontario ACORN Works to Stop Predatory Gouging by Western Union, Moneygram etc.

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 8, 2013) - Ontario NDP MPP and critic for Consumer Affairs Jagmeet Singh, with the support of Ontario ACORN, will re-introduce a Private Member Bill to regulate Foreign Money Transfer fees. The Province of Ontario has jurisdiction over money transfer organizations like Western Union and Money Gram.

ACORN members are excited to announce that the bill includes a 5% cap on fees, greater transparency in fee structures and enforcement mechanisims. This legislation mirrors Bill 98,which was introduced by Singh in May 2013, but killed by last year`s prorogation of the legislature.

This summer, ACORN surveyed 229 remittance users across Ontario. Most of them send less than $200 at a time. The people sending the least are paying the highest percentage in fees. 27% of users had no idea whether exchange fees were included in the prices advertised by remittance providers.

"This legislation is overdue. Immigrants and migrant workers need protection for the exorbitant and opaque fees charged by many predatory Money Transfer Organizations," says Kay Bisnath, President of ACORN Canada.

The World Bank estimates that more than $400 (USD) billion is remitted annually with 75% flowing from the developed world to the developing world, with about $44.4 billion in fees. A recent investigation by ACORN Canada and ACORN International exposed the fact that fees charged are often 20% (see full report, Past Time for Remittance Justice, 2010 at http://bit.ly/RemitReport).

ACORN Canada - the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Canada - is among the nation's largest organizations of low- and moderate-income families, with over 50,000 members in more than 20 communities working together for social and economic justice.