Mr. Chairman and committee members, thank you very much for the invitation to appear before the committee today to review Bill C-273.
My name is David Adams, and I'm the president of the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers of Canada. Our association represents 14 member companies, which sell over 51% of the vehicles in Canada and 64% of the passenger cars in Canada. They are responsible for about 77,000 direct and indirect jobs in Canada.
The problem with going last in a panel on which people are all saying pretty much the same thing is that much of what is in my presentation has already been said. With that in mind, I'm going to make my remarks brief, because I think the real benefit will come from the questioning from the members.
I have a few points I wish to make, though, if I could, with respect to Bill C-273 and CASIS. I think it's important for committee members to understand that at the time Bill C-273 was introduced by Mr. Masse, on January 27, 2009, and when the House of Commons passed second reading of the bill by a vote of 248 to 17 on May 13 of this year, there was no other option, besides legislation, that existed to address the issue of aftermarket access to vehicle manufacturer service and repair information. At that point, all any of you would have been aware of was that AIAMC, CVMA, and NATA had signed a letter of intent, dated May 1, that, in effect, represented a promise to develop and then implement an agreement among the vehicle manufacturers on the aftermarket.
Where are we today? Simply put, today there is a viable option to legislation--CASIS--which had not been developed when the House of Commons last dealt with this issue. All stakeholders now see the merit of proceeding with an agreement that the industry developed itself, without the need for government intervention.
While access to service and repair information has never been a consumer protection issue, as some have characterized it, consumers do stand to benefit from the CASIS agreement. CASIS will allow independent repair and service providers to conduct all repairs, which will decrease the amount of time a consumer's vehicle will spend in the shop. And consumers will enjoy greater opportunity to have their vehicles serviced at more locations.
CASIS will be fully implemented on May 1, 2010. In the interim, we have populated the task force and subcommittees that will govern the implementation and administration of the CASIS agreement with senior executives from the vehicle manufacturers. The CASIS parties have also invited the director general of the automotive and transportation industries branch at Industry Canada to sit as an observer on the task force to ensure transparency and accountability, which is important to the parties and to you, as members of Parliament.
Additionally, we have met with groups and organizations that had previously supported Bill C-273 to ensure that they were aware of CASIS and its goals and objectives. Overall, these organizations have been supportive of CASIS and have viewed it as a viable alternative to legislation. Importantly, we have met with the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, CADA, which has lobbied members on the issue of access to service and repair information from a slightly different angle. CADA is fully supportive of the CASIS agreement.
So where are we going? We're moving forward collectively and constructively with the implementation of CASIS. We have spent a significant amount of time and effort putting together an agreement that all stakeholders now believe is the most effective means of addressing the issue of automotive aftermarket access to vehicle manufacturer service and repair information. We do not anticipate making any changes to the agreement until experience after implementation dictates that the agreement needs to be amended. Our agreement has provisions for amending it in a fashion that is straightforward and is much simpler than amending legislation.
The three CASIS parties have also laid out a process for bringing the AIA into CASIS as a full partner. My presentation, which you will receive a copy of eventually, in both official languages, outlines a number of the concerns and issues we have with Bill C-273. For the sake of time, I'm not going to deal with those unless the committee wants to delve into those concerns.
In summary, the members of the AIAMC believe that Bill C-273 is not only unworkable, it cannot even be reasonably amended into legislation that will provide the automotive aftermarket with the same access to service and repair information as the CASIS agreement will provide. The development of CASIS is the first step. Implementation in May 2010 is the next step. Garnering real life experience with the agreement following implementation is the most appropriate way of dealing with this issue.
Clearly, if the industry cannot collectively manage the issue of providing service and repair information, training information, and tooling and equipment to the automotive aftermarket, then government intervention is one possible alternative.
To consider legislation, especially bad legislation at this point, is to put the cart before the horse. We therefore make the following recommendations.
In recognition that the CASIS agreement has been signed among the aftermarket and the vehicle manufacturers, effectively resolving all the issues that gave rise to Bill C-273, and Bill C-425 before it, we recommend to the committee that the bill be referred back to the House of Commons with a recommendation from this committee not to proceed with the bill.
In recognition of the provision for government to monitor the ongoing work of the task force in both implementing and administering the CASIS on a go-forward basis, we recommend that this committee recommend to the House of Commons that the CASIS agreement is the most effective tool to address the issues of the automotive aftermarket access to service and repair information.
Mr. Masse has stated in regard to Bill C-273, that he bill ensures a level playing field and creates the mechanism for disclosure”. We do not believe Bill C-273 could achieve that goal. However, we do believe that goal has been achieved through the CASIS.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your questions.