Evidence of meeting #2 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was toyota.
A recording is available from Parliament.
10:55 a.m.
Conservative
Brian Jean Conservative Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB
Okay.
In 2005 it went down substantially, almost in half, and then in 2006 it went down again. Do you think there's any correlation with the election of a Conservative government in 2006?
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Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
10:55 a.m.
Conservative
Brian Jean Conservative Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB
Thank you for answering all my questions. I appreciate it.
10:55 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Merv Tweed
Thank you.
Before I end, I have one question.
Years ago, automakers made the cars slightly different in Canada and the U.S., some would say perhaps to protect their dealer networks, etc. Now, with the movement of automobiles back and forth, obviously they have to meet our safety standards and we have to meet their safety standards.
The question I have is why would Toyota America be treated differently than Toyota Canada if the free flow of vehicles into each other's markets is equal? Why is Toyota America getting different answers or different responses from what perhaps we're hearing or suggesting in Canada? Is there a reason for that?
Why isn't the North American market being treated as one, as opposed to Canada and the U.S. market? Maybe that's more simple.
10:55 a.m.
Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security Group, Department of Transport
I think there are a couple of responses to that, Mr. Chair. One is that they are two separate entities in terms of Toyota. There is Toyota Canada and there is Toyota U.S.A. They're different companies. Our government obviously has to deal with Toyota Canada with respect to this issue.
Also, as was indicated earlier, while we are trying to harmonize a number of the safety regulations, they are not totally harmonized at this point.
As well, not all of the issues that we're talking about here relate to the safety regulations themselves. We don't have a safety regulation with respect to the floor mat, so what you have is that the floor mats in the U.S. are actually different from the floor mats in Canada. As I mentioned earlier, the ones in Canada are more supple than the ones they make in the U.S., so that's been the cause of some of the problems.
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Conservative
The Chair Conservative Merv Tweed
Yes. It just seems ironic that we share that same market and yet the product is different for different reasons and also affects the consumer in that same way.
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Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security Group, Department of Transport
Fair enough, and we're trying to harmonize as much as possible, but there is still work to be done there.
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Liberal
Joe Volpe Liberal Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
The officials have indicated that they'll provide information to us. I wonder if they could do it electronically on an Excel database. It will make things a lot easier for people to get hold of.
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Conservative
The Chair Conservative Merv Tweed
If that's possible, I would ask that you do so through the chair's office.
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Conservative
The Chair Conservative Merv Tweed
With that, I will thank our guests for appearing today. We appreciate your time and wish you continued success in your challenges.
For the information of the committee, the industry committee has agreed to meet with us collectively on Tuesday with regard to our review with the Toyota officials.
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An hon. member
[Inaudible--Editor]
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Conservative
The Chair Conservative Merv Tweed
Again, we know, and I will make a call today.
With that, the meeting is adjourned.