📬 Open Letter: A Plea for Accountability on Predatory Lending, Car Debt, and Transit Injustice in Canada

By Tina Winterlik (Zipolita)

Dear Elizabeth May, and all Members of Parliament who claim to care about affordability, financial justice, climate action, and human dignity:

I’m writing this open letter as a 63-year-old mother, artist, and dog walker who is currently couchsurfing in British Columbia. I worked hard, raised a child as a single mom, and gave up owning a car 24 years ago to reduce my carbon footprint. I walked, biked, and bussed — even endured a 4-hour daily commute from South Surrey to Granville Island — because I believed in doing the right thing.

Now I see how this system rewards the wrong things:

• Auto dealerships and banks handing out 20% car loans to newcomers with no credit
• Bridge and highway megaprojects funded while people sleep in tents
• New homes sitting empty while the working poor are buried in car debt
• And a government that keeps claiming to be “green” while subsidizing urban sprawl

I recently published a blog post that tells my story and connects the dots:
📍 “A Timeline of Extraction: The Real Cost of Predatory Lending and Car-Centric Urban Planning”
🔗 https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com/2025/08/a-timeline-of-extraction-real-cost-of.html

In it, I draw a direct line between:

• The auto loan trap ensnaring thousands of newcomers in debt
• The lack of reliable transit, forcing people into cars
• And the deliberate choice by governments to build bridges, not homes

This is Canada’s version of the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis — only this time, it’s cars instead of condos. And the people affected are the ones trying to make a life in this country.

🙏 I am asking you, Elizabeth May, to:

1. Raise this issue in the House of Commons — especially the systemic abuse of car loans and infrastructure that destroys communities.
2. Speak with Mark Carney — the former central banker and current UN climate envoy — and ask him to finally say something about this domestic economic injustice.
3. Demand answers from the following officials who are either responsible or complicit:

• 📩 Chrystia Freeland, Finance Minister
• 📩 Sean Fraser, Housing & Infrastructure
• 📩 Pablo Rodriguez, Transport
• 📩 Peter Routledge, OSFI
• 📩 Judith Robertson, FCAC

I know many people dismiss emails unless they’re from their “constituents.” So I’m putting this in public.
Because the system is rigged — and I’m not the only one saying so.

“There is no bridge wide enough to carry us over the consequences of this crisis if it continues.”
– Tina Winterlik (Zipolita)

Let’s stop pretending we don’t see what’s happening. The banks profit. The politicians deflect.
And the people are left walking — or falling — through the cracks.

---

📬 Contacts for Tagging & Public Pressure

Name	Title	Tag/Email
Elizabeth May	Green Party Leader	💬 @ElizabethMay · 📩 elizabeth.may@parl.gc.ca
Mark Carney	UN Climate Envoy	💬 @MarkJCarney (X/Twitter)
Chrystia Freeland	Finance Minister	💬 @cafreeland · 📩 chrystia.freeland@parl.gc.ca
Sean Fraser	Minister of Housing	💬 @SeanFraserMP · 📩 sean.fraser@parl.gc.ca
Pablo Rodriguez	Transport Minister	💬 @pablorodriguez · 📩 pablo.rodriguez@parl.gc.ca
Peter Routledge	OSFI	📩 communications@osfi-bsif.gc.ca
Judith Robertson	FCAC	📩 info@fcac-acfc.gc.ca