Bankruptcy Trustees Testify Before the Senate

We prepared a detailed report with our our comments on proposed changes to the bankruptcy rules in Canada.

Since the Committee started hearings in November we are the first Toronto area personal bankruptcy trustees to appear before the Committee. The Senate is preparing a report on future changes to bankruptcy rules, and up to this point most of the witnesses before the Committee have been lawyers and lobbyists. We believe it is very important for the average person’s voice to be heard, and since it is unlikely that any bankrupt person could afford to travel to Ottawa to appear before the Committee, we made the trip to give the average person’s perspective on financial problems.

I started by reminding the Committee that the average bankrupt person is just like the average Toronto resident, except they have probably gone through a job loss, marriage break up, or perhaps a medical problem that forced them to use credit, and now leaves them with more debt than they can manage. They are what bankruptcy law refers to as the "honest but unfortunate debtor".

Ted then explained that consumer proposals are a great alternative to personal bankruptcy for many residents of Toronto, and we strongly support increasing the debt threshold from $75,000 to $250,000 for eligibility to file a consumer proposal. However, while we have a success rate of over 95% for having our proposals accepted by creditors, we did suggest further changes that will make consumer proposals and even better process for Toronto residents with high levels of debt.

We will continue to fight for bankruptcy rules that are fair for everyone.

If you live in the Toronto area and want our team of bankruptcy and consumer proposal professionals to work with you to solve your debt problems, call our experts at 310-PLAN (310-7526, no area code required) or E-mail us to arrange a free initial consultation. We have demonstrated our expertise in Ottawa, so put us to work to help you today.

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