I made a mental note not to do that.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, honourable members of the committee, for the opportunity to speak before you on Bill C-244.
My name is Bill Hanvey. I am president and CEO of the Auto Care Association, which is based in Bethesda, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C.
The Auto Care Association is the voice of the approximately $400-billion United States auto care industry. We provide advocacy, education, networking, technology, market intelligence and communication resources to support the collective interests of our members, which are companies that provide quality parts, products, services and repairs for all 290 million vehicles on the United States' roads today.
The vehicle service and repair industry is an essential service that includes the manufacturing of replacement parts, distribution networks, and service and repair shops. Around the world, our industry is responsible for keeping over a billion vehicles on the road in safe condition. Independent auto repair shops are in every jurisdiction and constituency worldwide. These independent shops ensure that motorists in every community, including small and remote ones, have reasonable and timely access to essential vehicle services.
Across the globe, consumers are facing a significant threat to their right to repair their vehicles at the auto repair shop of their choice. Vehicles are increasingly becoming like cellphones, connected wirelessly at all times. These connected vehicles collect thousands of data points on the health of vehicle systems. The automakers then transmit these data to themselves wirelessly, precluding access to the data by independent repair shops.
Without access to these data, there are significant risks to the automotive aftermarket. For example, without access to data, independent auto repair shops cannot service a vehicle. It becomes more difficult to ensure that vehicles are operating as efficiently and safely as possible. Moreover, consumers will lose the right to repair their vehicle at the auto repair shop of their choice. In the United States, approximately 70% of post-warranty repairs are currently handled at independent repair shops. This open, fair and competitive automotive aftermarket needs to be protected to meet consumers' needs.
The Auto Care Association supports the intention and principles behind this bill. Bill C-244 is a step in the right direction when it comes to levelling the playing field for the service and repair of consumer goods, something that is of importance not just to the automotive sector but also to many others. The bill comes at a critical moment, as manufacturers of goods, including vehicles, have become increasingly sophisticated in their ability to create a closed loop for service, diagnostics and repair.
The Auto Care Association supports the proposal to expand exclusions from software circumvention prohibitions for the purpose of repairing or diagnosing a product. While the exemption is similar to one available under its sister law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the United States, we believe this provision is superior, since the current U.S. law requires industries to seek a product-specific exemption every three years. Further, it appears the exemption in this legislation also includes the availability of circumvention tools used by independent repairers to diagnose and repair a product. The inclusion of this provision should increase the effectiveness of this legislation in preventing manufacturers from using software to impede competition in the repair industry.
In addition, the Auto Care Association recommends that legislative bodies around the globe include unambiguous statutory language that eliminates manufacturers' ability to prevent independent shops from obtaining diagnostic, repair or maintenance information for the purpose of legitimate repair for any devices—cellphones, farm equipment, automobiles or heavy trucks.
To that end, we support the amendments discussed by our sister organization, the Automotive Industries Association of Canada, otherwise known as AIA Canada. These amendments, which include parallel changes to the Competition Act, would help reinforce a manufacturer’s requirement to allow access to diagnostic and repair information.
The right to repair consumer goods, including motor vehicles, is necessary for a truly open, fair, and competitive automotive aftermarket to continue to exist. Right to repair is a global movement. In the state of Massachusetts, 75% of voters supported state legislation for right to repair. In March 2021, the first ever right to repair laws in the European Union came into effect that require manufacturers to make parts and repair information for products available to third parties, and I understand that 83% of Canadians agree that automakers should be required by law to share data with independent auto repair shops.
It is critical that vehicle owners—and not automakers—are the owners of their vehicle data. If our industry is to remain competitive, automakers should be required to provide access to this data so that consumers can continue to choose where to get their vehicle repaired.
Thank you again for the opportunity to present today. I look forward to answering your questions.