Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be able to speak this evening on Bill C-221, proposed by the hon. member for Lambton-Middlesex. This is a bill which regulates, or perhaps deregulates. It stops a manufacturer of motor vehicles, farm tractors or farm implements from preventing any dealer from selling other lines of products.
Examining this deceptively short bill, I became aware that there were very serious consequences to accepting something like this. I wonder, in fact, whether the hon. member even took the time to examine the consequences to any extent.
We are aware that this country has a debt load of approximately $600 billion at this time, and we also have our own individual debts. We each of us have fairly considerable debts ourselves, we are even probably more in debt than ever before. In other words consumer buying power is very low.
The automobile and farm equipment industries are barely viable at this time. Many dealers are having trouble keeping their heads above water; many are losing money even. Changing the way dealerships and sales of farm and automotive products are organized too rapidly would be very problematical.
We in Quebec-and I believe the same goes more or less for the rest of Canada-have a network of dealerships in place. In the past 20 or 25 years, many new car dealerships have sprung up, and we have invested considerably in them. We have invested some $500,00 to $2 million in buildings and showrooms.
Highly specialized equipment was bought, as required to perform automotive and tractor maintenance. As we all know, this kind of equipment is becoming more and more sophisticated, with state-of-the-art mechanisms, thus requiring sophisticated maintenance, which means that dealerships must invest substantial amounts to provide good customer service. Sales people must also be trained to sell specific makes of cars, tractors or farm machinery.
All this means a great deal of expense for car and farm machinery dealerships and manufacturers. Very large sums amounts of money are spent on marketing this expensive and sophisticated equipment. Obviously it would be out of the question to change the whole marketing system overnight.
Personally, I think it would be very dangerous and expensive to decide overnight to allow a car dealership to sell other makes of cars for example. That would probably be too easy.
Let me give you an example. Say a dealership signs an agreement with a manufacturer to sell a line of cars with several models but later realizes that the models do not sell well or that it is unable to market the product properly. Because these models do not seem to sell, the owner decides, overnight, to start selling-assuming this was a GM or Pontiac-Buick dealership-Nissan or Toyota cars.
I do not think the Nissan or Toyota dealer would be very pleased to see a GM dealer selling his products. He would probably choose the top-selling models to the detriment of those that are less popular and thus hurt his competitors.
I am neither for nor against this bill, but after examining it, it seems to me that there are serious risks to passing this type of bill. It would certainly be very important to allow a period of adjustment. Certainly, five or ten years, and maybe longer should be allowed to change this marketing structure, which has been in place in Canada and the United States-but we are concerned here with Canada-for years, and particularly for the last 25 years, during which automobile and farm equipment dealers have invested large amounts of money.
I am sure that if we began to upset this marketing approach, chances are there would be a considerable number of bankruptcies, and many jobs lost. That is why I mentioned at the beginning of my speech that we are not in a period where we should make changes too quickly. A lot of jobs could be lost. What we need now is to create jobs, but I think that we would risk losing a lot of jobs if we turn the existing marketing structure for automobiles and farm equipment upside down.
I would suggest that the hon. member continue to examine and work on her bill. She could try to form a small committee to analyse, to question witnesses from the makers, for example, to ask them their opinion.
What do consumers think of it? What do dealers think of it. They should be asked because I am not even sure that a consumer would feel very secure if he saw a large car dealer, in Montreal or Toronto, selling a dozen lines of automobile and a hundred or so models. I cannot see the consumer being reassured, knowing the complexity of the service and the guarantee.
Would he feel secure about after sales service? The consumer might also perhaps have doubts. Can certain monopolies arise among automobile dealers? Large dealers could sell several makes and decide on the prices, as if they had a monopoly. Prices would then increase.
The hon. member said that prices might go down, but it could also be the reverse. In the long term, prices might go up, because there would monopolies in the distribution and sale of motor vehicles or farm equipment. This could indeed be a danger in the long term and should be thoroughly examined.
It may be that remote areas need dealers selling several makes of cars or tractors. It might be a good thing in this case. However, would dealers selling several makes of cars or tractors be in a position to adequately service the vehicles bought by consumers for a rather large sum of money?
A farm tractor costing $100,000, $150,000 or $200,000 is a major investment. I think that consumers would be concerned if a dealer sold too many makes of tractors.
I can understand a dealer in a remote area saying that he will not survive if he can only sell one make of tractors. That may be the case. But then again, perhaps that dealer should have a smaller franchise that better reflects the size of the local market.
Again, I am not opposed to this idea, but I feel that this bill could cause major upheaval. The marketing structure that has been in place for many years works rather well and seems to meet the demands of consumers. Changing that structure could be quite risky.
It would also set a precedent. For example, suppose that a Saint-Hubert BBQ restaurant in Quebec does not do very well. Could the manager of that restaurant start selling burgers from McDonald's to improve sales?
If we agree to do that for motor vehicles, people in the food industry might want the same. When you think of it, a person becomes a dealer of his own free will. He signs an agreement with the maker of a car or farm tractor of his own accord, whereby he agrees to sell only certain models and makes.
In that sense, the current act gives a person the opportunity to choose the products he wants to sell. If, some day, that person realizes that the products he sells no longer meet his expectations, he can always sell his business to someone else.