In our opening remarks, we talked about the right to repair. We explained that in reality, it can be difficult to repair a lot of products, because you need specialized tools and the parts are difficult to obtain. Our fear is therefore that the provision requiring that a means of diagnosis and repair can be readily supplied might mean that a lot of products are exempted from this new obligation.
Consumers also have trouble getting their property repaired because repairs are very expensive. Sometimes it is better to buy a new product because the cost of repairing is very high and obtaining the parts needed can take several months. The bill does not address those problems for consumers. It might therefore be desirable to consider a provision that the time for obtaining parts and the cost of repairs must be reasonable.
We also talked about applications brought by private parties. Bill C‑59 will expand the possibility of bringing private applications for violations of the Competition Act. We believe that is a positive improvement. The bill will also allow monetary awards to be requested for certain violations of the act, but not for deceptive marketing practices. We therefore recommend that this be made possible.
On the subject of greenwashing, the bill will prohibit false or misleading representations about a product. However, that proposed prohibition would not apply to general representations about the environmental impact of a business. For example, if a business says it is carbon neutral, that is not a representation about a product. We are therefore asking that the prohibition be extended to general representations made by businesses. That exists in the European Union, which has adopted a new greenwashing directive that specifically applies to general representations by a business.
If I may, I would like to talk about one last thing. The bill proposes a new system for the certification of agreements or arrangements related to protecting the environment. We have questions about that provision, however, primarily about the grounds provided by the bill for rescinding certificates. At present, the grounds for rescinding a certificate do not include circumstances in which an agreement no longer serves a purpose. For example, if two businesses agreed to change a chemical component of a product because it would be less harmful to the environment, and scientific discoveries subsequently proved that the component had negative effects, that would not be a circumstance that could justify a request to rescind the certificate, according to the terms currently provided in the bill.