Door-to-door sales curtailed by the province

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/06/2020 (2302 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With summer finally here Manitobans are transitioning into a well-deserved Phase Two of our COVID-19 recovery. We’ve been blessed with a combination of luck, geographic location, and diligent public acceptance of , and adherence to, our public health directives.

One difference between this summer and last summer — and Elmwood residents will soon notice it has nothing to do with the pandemic — has to do with direct door-to-door selling. The good news is that the province has introduced legislation banning the direct sales practice of door-to-door selling of furnaces, air conditioners, windows and other household systems and supplies.

This is welcome news as these aggressive practices, which ramped up the past few years, have left too many victims of unethical door-to-door sales practices in their wake.

One Winnipegger actually signed a contract totaling $37,000 for a furnace, a HEPA filter, water filter and electronic air cleaner. All these products should’ve cost less than $10,000, including equipment and installation. We know of an Elmwood resident who had a similar experience.

The banning of these door-to-door sales practices will bring Manitoba in line with what Ontario and Alberta are doing.

That’s the good news.

The bad news for Manitoba residents who were victims of these practices is that the province appears to not be holding these companies accountable to compensate victims.

Each of these door-to-door companies are held legally accountable via insurance company bonds registered with the province. When someone has fallen victim to the wrongdoing of a company the province can request compensation to the victims be paid through the bonds. To date we’ve seen nothing from the government that would indicate they are going to do something about this.

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On a much brighter note, I’d like to offer great big congratulations to all our 2020 high school graduates.

Elmwood High, Miles Macdonell Collegiate Institute and Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute students are obviously facing unique challenges in the months that lay ahead and everyone wishes them the best of luck.

It’s been great to see the new adaptation to social distancing as vehicles festooned with balloons and colourful banners have paraded through the streets of Elmwood these past few weeks. It’s great to see everyone continuing to celebrate important milestones like graduations and birthdays — and what a great way to show appreciation!

If you have any questions about our ongoing efforts to support Elmwood residents, please contact me at Jim.Maloway@Yourmanitoba.ca or call my office at 204-415-1122.