Lisa Raitt

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, we have been very clear from the beginning on the matter with respect to this bridge. Although work is being carried out by Transport Canada, this is a bridge that is under the authority and under the carriage of the file of my colleague, the Minister of Infrastructure.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, as I indicated already, GM Canada issued recalls. We do not have information as to whether it knew of that issue or that defect prior to the recall being given to Transport Canada. Transport Canada, of course, has been involved with respect to prosecutions under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act in the past. The difficulty is that we are waiting to see what is happening in the United States with respect to their information. The investigations will continue there.

Further to that, it is fair to say, correcting something I said earlier, that Transport Canada was not aware of an ignition switch issue prior to receiving its first notice from GM Canada in February. Therefore, there was no connection made to that previous accident the hon. member referred to that happened, unfortunately, in June of last year.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, this is something that is subject to great scrutiny and investigation in the United States. As I said, decision-making happens in the United States, and Canada is not separate from that. It is something that is held in the United States with respect to those matters.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, we have the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, and in that act, there is an obligation on manufacturers to let us know when there is a defect and to recall, if that is the case. We expect that manufacturers will adhere to that act. We expect that they would do so, because there are fines and possible imprisonment should they not do so.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

With respect to the ongoing investigations in the United States, Mr. Chair, the timing of when the parent company knew of this defect is actually under investigation by U.S. authorities. We know that GM Canada does not act independently of its parent company. Decision-making like this on recalls is centralized, as it is with other manufacturers.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, Transport Canada was notified when GM Canada issued its recall on February 10, 2014.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, on February 10, 2014, GM Canada issued the recall affecting 153,000 vehicles, specifically with respect to a defect that could allow an ignition to unintentionally move from the “run” position to the “accessory” or “off” position.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, with respect to the accident that happened last year, that accident was not tied to potential recalls of GM vehicles until afterward. I was notified of the recall issue with respect to GM on February 28.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

With respect to the question, Mr. Chair, affected positions were mainly responsible for outreach, which is road-user education, communications, and design. They were not related to legislative or regulatory operations and were not in the defects investigations and recalls division, meaning that they were not part of the safety administration.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

With respect to the motor vehicle safety program, Mr. Chair, we have 80 full-time equivalents in these positions.