Transport committee  I think it depends on the definition of a complaint. For example, anyone who brings his or her vehicle into a dealership may very well claim that in a particular driving condition they're feeling vibration, or feedback in the steering wheel, or whatever else. Those would be norma

Transport committee  Yes. Thank you. We have put in place a new global quality and safety committee that is chaired by Mr. Akio Toyoda, the president of our company, and with that are regional safety and quality officers for each of the major areas of the world. In North America, a chief quality

Transport committee  No.

Transport committee  The pedals used in application in Europe at the time were considered to exhibit a problem that was predominantly in right-hand-drive vehicles of a particular size in certain operational conditions.

Transport committee  Well, Mr. Volpe, let me just correct the preamble to the question. In fact, at that time, I didn't have knowledge of the earlier events with respect to any of the pedal investigations as they applied. When the issue first arose in Canada--and if memory serves me correctly, we h

Transport committee  That's right.

Transport committee  No. The conclusion at the time from engineering was that it did not constitute a safety defect, but simply resulted in notchiness in the pedal.

Transport committee  Well, again, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act and regulations provide not just the general guidelines but very specific guidelines with respect to testing of various vehicle components and so forth. Whenever we have complaints, those are reviewed against the provisions of the Motor V

Transport committee  The determination of the safety defect within the terms of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act is something that, in the first case, left to the determination of the manufacturer; it's subject to review by the department.

Transport committee  Because of the specific conditions that arose and the manner in which the vehicle performed.... I should mention that there has never been a reported case in Canada of a sticking pedal with that formulation of plastic. It relates to a high-temperature and high-humidity condition

Transport committee  That's correct.

Transport committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the committee has indicated that it wants to follow up on the matters that were discussed at the last hearing. You also requested the presence of someone with a technical understanding of the pedals used in Europe and Canada, For that reaso

Transport committee  In general, yes.

Transport committee  Mr. Chairman, I was notified on January 20 that the determination had been made that a safety defect existed, and we moved immediately the following day to issue a notice of the defect.

Transport committee  There are still incompatible standards. For example, I could not necessarily sell in Canada a vehicle that was built for the United States, in some cases because of immobilizer standards and so forth. But in general, Transport Canada is aligning with U.S. standards, and that will