Geller Law
An introductory pamphlet on Canada's complaint system has been published by "Canada's Investor Rights Advocate" - FAIR Canada. This guide assumes that properly marshalled facts are sufficient to compel investor compensation using, primarily, the dealer's internal complaint handling process. To work through this system an investor needs to consider the regulations, rules and judge-made laws that provide consumer protection. Failure to recognize these legal boxes and fit one's advocacy within those boxes is likely to result in complaint rejection or, its evil cousin, token offers.
The pamphlet then promotes the industry dominated Ombudsoffice OBSI for dispute resolution. As FAIR does not fight in the trenches to help individual investors to get their money back, OBSI is uncritically promoted without consideration of whether this is a practical or appropriate choice for an individual investor. FAIR rightly does not profess to help the investor choose the best route to financial recovery. It simply shares in its pamphlet that which regulators and industry promotes for complaint resolution.
As are warnings on sales materials, individual results may vary from those suggested by FAIR. In our experience, individual results will vary.
In practice, rarely does the self-advocacy work for investors except those with smaller claims (20k and under).
We have never seen a dealer complaint response in which complete, substantial, or even fair compensation has been proposed by the dealer. There will be an example of fair assessment, but it is rare to the point of near extinction.
OBSI has a disproportionately limited record of assisting complainants to recover larger losses over $75,000. Why? Is this an unconscious bias, its lack of binding authority, or the asymmetric resources between the dealer and the investor appearing before OBSI?
These are industry promoted remedies. Ask yourself, why does industry want investors to divert complaints to internal dealer complaints officers and a non-binding and industry dominated ombudsoffice?
Nonetheless, for smaller losses and for those with weaker cases, the pamphlet's suggestions are viable options. There is no reasonable alternative (though small claims court might be an option but is a most uncertain process for the self-represented claimant).
For larger claims, investors are fighting well resourced complaint departments backed by teams of big firm lawyers. An uneven playing field that the investor must stand up to using the regulations, rules and laws that provide consumer protections. These important, even crucial, tools are not explored in this pamphlet.
See: https://faircanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023_02_10_Complaint_Guide_ENG_ver.0-2.pdf
