A former Richmond Hill councillor who owes the TD Bank more than $176,000 has lost a court appeal arguing he can pay off his debt using nothing more than a piece of paper with the words “consumer purchase” on it.

Citing an obscure part of the Bills of Exchange Act, Elio Di Iorio says the “consumer bill” is a legitimate form of payment, like a cheque.

It is essentially a piece of paper with “consumer purchase” written on it that can be exchanged for goods and services when signed by the purchaser. The payee — a car dealer, for example — then signs the document and can take it to a bank and get money or credit in exchange.

Di Iorio argues this counts as money because the bank takes that “unpayable debt” to the Bank of Canada which uses it to issue more currency.

In June, Ontario Superior Court Justice David Price rejected Di Iorio’s argument and allowed TD Bank to proceed with an action to collect money owed from a loan, a line of credit and unpaid credit cards. Di Iorio represented himself in court.

“There was no obligation upon the plaintiff to accept them (the consumer bills) in payment of the defendant’s obligation,” Price said.

Di Iorio’s appeal was denied this week.

“The appellant’s documents have no commercial value whatsoever,” the high court ruled. “Accordingly, the appellant’s debts to TD Bank remain unpaid.”

But Di Iorio maintains consumers have the right to use these bills. “Government took away . . . my ability to directly access the resources of the earth,” he said.

He has tried unsuccessfully to buy a car and pay a lawyer in this way.

Consumer bills can only be used to get goods and services for consumption, not for buying land or goods for resale. So the money he borrowed to buy his Orangeville house — now repossessed by the bank — cannot be repaid using a bill.

However, according to Di Iorio’s complex argument —which he has worked on full-time for the last two years, scouring volumes of banking history and federal archives — he actually doesn’t owe TD Bank anything.

He claims the bank can’t produce the original document he signed to obtain his loan and lines of credit, and that it has been passed on to the Bank of Canada. So if he is liable to anyone it’s the Bank of Canada, not TD.

He’s taking his case to the Supreme Court, he said.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“I’m a microcosm,” said the 40-year-old who was a Richmond Hill councillor from 2003 to 2006. This is about the “unjust enrichment” of the banks, and the spiralling debt that affects every family.

“This is why there is an economic crisis.”

Read more about: