Transport Committee on March 11th, 2010

[Louis-Philippe Lussier]

With respect to the media issue and what was posted by Transport Canada, we have to go back to November, when that came out. As my colleagues have mentioned, basically the context was that the floor mats in the U.S. and Canada were different. The all-weather floor mats in Canada have a different composition in material. They are much softer and the design is totally different--

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

I know that. I don't want to get into a discussion about floor mats, though. I want to know about.... You cleared off a series of vehicles on recall on your news release here. What I would like to know is did that expand to newer vehicles later on, and did some of those vehicles require additional recall requirements from these? Because you're clearly applauding Toyota's action to protect consumers, and that's a very significant statement from what are supposedly the police for consumers and public safety. You're issuing that statement. So for November 26 I want to know whether additional vehicles have now gone on recall, and if some of the ones that you cleared and were applauding Toyota about have also required additional recall requirements.

[Louis-Philippe Lussier]

I'm going to get to your recall extension question, but I did want to finish up on the point about the media release that came out. We have to go back to the context there, where the floor mats were different between the two countries. The ones in Canada, except for the Venza, as Trevor mentioned earlier, were not susceptible to basically sticking the accelerator pedal to the floor in a full throttle position.

Nonetheless, we met with Toyota. We basically stated our concern that we needed Canadians to have the same treatment as Americans, where in the U.S. they were doing vehicle improvements--

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

On that, I asked them to write every single Canadian at that particular time, and you're saying you asked them to treat Canadians the same. So are you saying, then, that the department's position, especially given that we have different components, as you've noted, like the floor mats, is that we should actually have a research centre for safety and excellence that the United States is getting?

Are you saying that Canadians should enjoy the same things that U.S. citizens are getting, including those in New York and every other place, with a pick-up of their vehicle and then a replacement vehicle in the interim, and, as well, that we will get all the information that Mr. Toyoda has guaranteed, including the book of secrets and other information, that Congress will get? Is it the position of the department that we get identical...? Because I have another letter that I wrote Toyota about that, and they said they would not provide that information to this committee and the industry committee, by ignoring that request. I want to make sure it's the department's position that we get treated the same as the United States.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

The time is up, but I'm going to allow that question to be answered--please, without interruption.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[Louis-Philippe Lussier]

Mr. Chair, obviously I can't speak for Toyota, but it's our responsibility to make sure that Toyota respects the law of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act. That is what we pursue. Whatever else Toyota Canada may want to do for its consumers is up to Toyota. That is a matter better left to discuss with them.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Mr. Watson.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

So many questions, so little time. I'll try to do the best I can here.

How many accidents, injuries, fatalities occur each year in Canada that are directly attributable to vehicle or vehicle equipment safety defects? Do we know? Do we track that? Who does? What's the most recent year we have available?

This is just to give some context.

[Louis-Philippe Lussier]

Mr. Chair, I'm not sure I properly understood the full question.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

How many accidents, injuries, and fatalities occur each year in Canada that are directly attributable to a vehicle or vehicle equipment safety defect? Do we know? Do we track that? What's the most recent year for which we have information like that available?

[Louis-Philippe Lussier]

We do have a division in Transport Canada's Road Safety and Motor Vehicle Regulation Directorate that basically tracks collision statistics. We do have numbers with respect to the number of fatalities and injuries in Canada. In terms of fatalities, about 2,700 people get killed every day.

You were asking specifically how many of these can be attributable to vehicle defects.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Directly attributable.

[Louis-Philippe Lussier]

We don't have that information readily available now. We can certainly look back. We do know from past studies that typically we're talking 5% of collisions being attributable to maybe a vehicle defect. It's a small portion. I don't have an exact number to provide the committee.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

If you'll provide that to the committee at a later point, that would be appreciated--

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Pardon me, Mr. Watson, but I want to clarify something for the record.

In your comment, Mr. Lussier, you said that 2,700 people a day are killed. I presume you meant a year.

[Louis-Philippe Lussier]

Per year, yes. Sorry.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

No, it's just for the record.

[Louis-Philippe Lussier]

It's an approximate number.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Thank you.

Mr. Watson.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Mr. Chair, eating into my time like that--shame.

The system in Canada is largely complaint-driven. As I understand it, you get information from third parties, insurance and police. How often do you receive information from third parties? Is it annually, semi-annually, quarterly, monthly? How often do you receive that information and compile it?

[Trevor Lehouillier]

Typically that would be on a case-by-case basis. We have field teams across the country who work very closely with different organizations. Some of the larger government insurance companies, when they see issues, will bring them to our attention. We document them. We often get called upon by police agencies when there is a collision where they feel that something isn't right.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

If a consumer doesn't complain to Transport Canada, is it possible, in your opinion, for an automaker to conceal a safety problem for any length of time?

[Trevor Lehouillier]

Anything is possible; however, I would not expect them to do so. As part of our investigations, we request information, we request complaints, we request warranty information, we request legal claims, and they provide that information when we request it.

[Jeff Watson, Conservative, Essex, ON]

You were conducting an investigation into floor mat issues when Toyota announced a recall on January 21 with respect to sticky pedal. I presume that means there was no investigation being conducted on sticky pedal by your agency prior to that. Is that correct?