Why are they called, "Perpetual"?

It's interesting how a once legitimate, highly respected investment vehicle like the preferred share can go so bad, so fast. Only a couple of years ago, any preferred share trading at a 20%+ discount to par would be considered "distressed". The issuer would be under severe scrutiny, and the rating of the pref would probably be P4 or less. These days, over 90% of pref securities issued in Canada are trading at discounts greater than 20%, and most of these maintain a P1 rating. Does this make any sense? No. I think the time has come for these issuers, especially the Canadian banks who have single-handedly flooded the market to the point of silliness, to have their securities re-classified as the junk they really are.

So why are they now called "perpetual" then? They're actually not. I cannot find this word in any issuer's annual report, or official documents. A preferred share is usually described as "cumulative, redeemable, non-cumulative, or retractible".

The label, "perpetual" has been affixed to preferreds by a lame institutional sector, who have slowly, and mindlessly, accepted the evolving fact that preferred stock is never-ending junk, but highly rated junk nevertheless!