Thank you, Chair.
My name is Ken Bondy, and I am a national representative in the health, safety and environment department of Unifor Canada, the largest private sector union in Canada. We represent 315,000 members. On behalf of our president, Jerry Dias, I want to thank the committee for this invitation.
Our union believes that the Volkswagen emission scandal and the meagre penalties imposed on the automaker under CEPA certainly warrants review by this committee. Unifor, as the leading voice for auto workers in Canada, would like to have that opportunity to look further into this issue. The revelations of Volkswagen’s violations raised concern among our members, as you can imagine, throughout the auto industry. How could a company that intentionally contravened our laws receive a paltry $200-million fine? It remains unclear why Canada took such a passive approach.
We have seen what happened in the United States, where their prosecution ended with a settlement of $25 billion from Volkswagen. That's 130 times the amount of the Canadian settlement. The U.S. is using this money to bolster its needed electric vehicle infrastructure, and it's a natural offset of course for both the economic and environmental damage the automaker’s action caused. On top of this, and at the same time, VW committed to introducing new EV programs in its Chattanooga, Tennessee, assembly plant.
However, in Canada, we have let them carry on with business as usual with no investment at all. We need all companies to take climate commitments seriously. CEPA is our rule book; it allows us to punish those who contravene the laws.
Our union commends the federal government for many of its recent actions to take a lead on emissions reductions efforts and to meet the Paris targets, but bolstering our approach to CEPA enforcement must be part of the plan. It is painfully clear that Canada’s approach to enforcement and prosecution of violations under CEPA needs strengthening. The CEPA language might not need to change, but guidance with regard to the environmental enforcement directorate’s approach is important. Authorities must prioritize these high-risk violators.
I want to end by saying that the Volkswagen scandal shows us why corporate accountability measures are essential to uphold our social values, our workplace rights and our support for working Canadians.
Thank you.