Consumer Rights

I am voicing my concern about the rate hikes from Duke Energy. I am elderly & on a fixed income, and the recent utility hikes are squeezing my budget to a breaking point. Please do not allow AI centers to function off of the citizens backs and pocketbooks.

As a retired couple, we are working to reduce our expenses, not increase them. Essential living costs, such as electricity, should not rise simply because of a business decision to expand or improve capabilities. These types of costs should not be passed on to customers, particularly those living on fixed or limited incomes. We respectfully ask that you consider adjusting the rates so they are fair and not punitive to customers.

Dear Prime Minister and Respected Members of the Government,

As a Canadian resident living in Alberta for the past eight years, I write to you with deep respect and heartfelt sincerity. My family and I have made our lives here — enduring countless struggles and making every possible effort to build a stable future in this beautiful country we proudly call home.

We arrived in Canada with high hopes and the determination to contribute meaningfully to society. Despite holding PhDs, finding secure employment has been a long and challenging journey. Like many other immigrant families, we faced numerous obstacles — from acquiring Permanent Residency and later working towards citizenship, to navigating the high costs of daycare, rental housing, and essential services. We have paid substantial amounts to IRCC and other institutions during this process.

After years of careful financial planning, sacrifice, and saving, we finally managed to put together the 5% down payment required to purchase our very first home — a dream we have nurtured since the day we arrived. We signed the purchase agreement in good faith, with the closing date set for September 2025.

Shortly after we signed, the government announced the First-Time Home Buyer GST Rebate. While we welcome this progressive and much-needed initiative, it was deeply disheartening to learn that eligibility is currently based on the agreement date, not the closing date.

This policy detail unintentionally excludes families like ours who, due to unavoidable circumstances, had to commit to their home purchase before this announcement (which is unpredictable). We could not have foreseen this benefit, and delaying such a critical life decision was not an option available to us.

Therefore, I sincerely and humbly urge the government to reconsider the eligibility criteria and base the GST rebate on the closing date rather than the agreement date. This change would make the program truly equitable and inclusive for all first-time home buyers, including those who signed before the announcement but will not receive the keys to their homes until much later.

We are just one of many families who have dreamt of homeownership and made countless sacrifices to turn that dream into reality. Please give thoughtful consideration to this request — it would provide much-needed relief and fairness to many hardworking Canadians striving to build a life of dignity and stability.

Thank you very much for your attention and for your continued efforts to support families like ours.

With sincere hope and gratitude,
Aparna

I've been a clothing artist for the past 6 years and have helped work on clothes for other groups purely for the enjoyment of users on the platform. It is highly disheartening how many restrictions we've been receiving with ai moderation warning or banning us already, and cuts to the revenue we make is already low enough. I like to create work that other users can enjoy using throughout the platform, and having my own take on certain styles of clothing really helps to excel the unique qualities that the Roblox community beholds. These changes will only cause more issues for smaller creators who want to get their work out there in the light, and as someone who was once in that stage, it'll only create harder times for them. Not everyone is willing to spend money on all these tasks just to have their clothing out there, and I stand for those who'll come after us.

I am a Roblox 2D clothing creator who spends hours hand-drawing every design from scratch. Every piece requires patience, creativity, and attention to detail, after finishing a design I still have to pay Robux just to publish it. Even after paying the publishing fee, there’s no guarantee anyone will ever see my work because of how difficult discovery has become on the Roblox Marketplace. It is heartbreaking to invest so much time, effort, and money into creating original clothing only to receive little to no visibility or sales. Many talented independent creators struggle to compete with large groups and established brands, while constant marketplace changes and higher publishing costs make it even harder to grow. I hope Roblox continues improving support for small creators by making clothing discovery fairer, reducing publishing barriers, and providing better opportunities for original artists to reach potential buyers. The Roblox creator community thrives because of passionate designers, and every creator deserves a realistic chance to have their work seen, appreciated, and purchased.

I am a roblox 2D clothing designer. This update will make my job completely unsustainable. The creators on the platform CREATE the whole platform. Without designers and creators Roblox would be nothing. I don't understand why Roblox would not listen to us and understand what the community actually wants. Everyone wears 2D clothing. No 2D clothing designer is going to be excited about this update. Not to mention, making our income less than half of the small amount we get already and then adding a HUGE fee that most of us can not rationalize. I hope they reconsider.