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Canadian Right to Repair Bill Passes,…

Canadian Right to Repair Bill Passes, Heads to Committee

Bill C-273, the “Right to Repair Bill,” was passed by the Canadian Parliament late Wednesday by a vote of 248 to 17.

As is often the case for such bills, it has been referred to committee for analysis and discussion. In the case of Bill-273 it will be the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology that will handle the task.

In the run up to the vote on the bill, more than 9,000 letters were sent to Federal MPs seeking their support, the majority from independent garages.

The Automotive Industries Association of Canada, which spearheaded the initiative and pulled in support from another of other groups, thanked those industry individuals who took the time to voice their concerns.

“For the past 5 years, AIA has worked diligently in cooperation with a number of partnering associations and groups to ensure that MPs, the media and the industry at large understood clearly the issue at hand. While there is still a lot of work ahead at the Committee stage, this vote is a clear indication that we have successfully shown to our elected representatives in Parliament that a legislated solution is the only real mechanism to resolve the Right to Repair issue going forward,” said association president Marc Brazeau.

Bills in committee are subject to a number of analysis and feedback from groups affected. The committee will report back to Parliament in the Fall.

Following the passage of the bill, groups working toward a voluntary agreement reiterated their view that a voluntary agreement is preferable. The groups, the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association (CVMA), the National Automotive Trades Association (NATA), and the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers of Canada (AIAMC), released a Letter of Intent on creating a voluntary agreement May 1.

“The vehicle manufacturers and distributors have overcome some major hurdles to get to a position where we can address legitimate service, repair, training and tooling information needs of the automotive aftermarket through a voluntary solution” said Mark Nantais, CVMA’s president. “When Bill C-273 was first introduced, our industry was challenged by the Minister of Industry to develop a voluntary framework to address the concerns being raised by the aftermarket automotive industry. We have responded aggressively and positively towards creating this voluntary framework that will ensure that all automotive manufacturers are providing this information in the near future. In fact, many companies are already making this information available today.”

Dale Finch, NATA’s executive vice president stated that “a voluntary agreement is much better suited to the complex realities and constant change in the automotive business. The reality is that the legislation, while well intended, will take several years to operationalize, and then be fairly limited and static because of its prescriptive approach. The voluntary agreement we are crafting will be fully implemented in less than year to the benefit of all in the automotive aftermarket. The voluntary solution will be flexible enough to quickly address industry and any consumer issues moving forward that may not be contemplated under the legislation. Unfortunately legislation does not work in this manner, nor does it recognize how much of this information is already available in Canada today.”

The existence of that letter was raised in Parliament by MPs including Brian Masse, sponsor of the bill, during the last hour debate, Monday May 11, two days before the vote.

“I know NATA, the National Automotive Trades Association, has promised a solution, which is important to recognize. All it can do is promise it might have a voluntary agreement in 2010 at best. It is not worth the paper on which it is printed because, at the end of the day, there could be manufacturers that would opt in or opt out at different times and resolution processes would not available through any type of legislation.

“It is also very important not to forget that the automobile industry right now is revolutionizing in many respects. There will also be new entrants into the market. How can we have a voluntary agreement that would be based upon a group of businesses that are all foreign companies? They would have no Canadian legislative backstop to deal with any of the problems. There will be other ones, for example, China, as it emerges into the Canadian market with the Chery. China has over 100 different automotive assembly companies. Not all of them will get into our market, but some will and they could decide not to get into some type of agreement.”

AIA president Brazeau said that the work on the bill will continue.

“The AIA will continue to keep you apprised of any updates as they occur in relation to the passage of Bill C-273. Thank you to the thousands of individuals who have supported AIA throughout this process and we look forward to your continued support in the weeks and months ahead.”

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