Locals to help solve car conundrum

BY RAFFY BOUDJIKANIAN

raffy.boudjikanian@transcontinental.ca

A group of lobbyists led by a Kirkland resident are not completely satisfied with consultations with Transport Canada about allowing Canadian importers of 2008 U.S. cars to drive their vehicles, amending legislation that previously forbade them from doing so. "I'm not positive that the amendments will pass into action for Christmas," said Robert Lamb, who founded Cars without Borders for the 1,100 Canadians like him that took advantage of the rising dollar to buy a U.S. made car only to find out that they would be unable to drive it in Canada.

According to Transport Canada, the amendments will pass after a 15-day consultation period. Lamb is now encouraging members of his group to write letters to the Treasury Board, who he says can override that period.

The car problems are related to an immobilization device, which, when activated at the touch of a button on one's keypad, would stop a stolen car dead in its tracks. In the U.S.A., the standard amount of time for a potential carjacker to disable the device is three and a half minutes. Since Sept. 1, that amount in Canada is requested to be five minutes by law.

When some Canadians purchased 2008 models as of October, their cars were still cleared for entrance here. However, Transport Canada's Registrar of Imported Vehicles, which lists admissible cars into Canada, updated its list as transactions were made, effectively barring several cars from being used. Those consumers that had already bought their vehicles were allowed to bring them in, but had to leave them parked at home.

Lamb's daughter was looking forward to driving her new 2008 Honda Civic EX-L after graduating from CEGEP, but the family had to content itself by looking at the car sitting in their garage for a while. "I’m overwhelmed," he said, after hearing about the amendments. "We decided that the safety objective is met," said Transport Canada spokesperson Patrick Charette. The amendments would allow new importers, and those who already bought cars, to hit the road on their brand new wheels. "We rely on manufacturers to tell us when theirs cars meet requirements," Charette explained. "It's a self-certified process."

Laura Heasman, spokesperson for Honda Canada, said that responsibility for the list ultimately lies with the government, since it is Transport Canada that imposed the new regulation. "I very much doubt that we sent [Transport Canada] our information late," she said. "Automobile manufacturers and their respective trade organizations have opposed strongly to this regulation," she said. "We are nevertheless required to abide by the requirements."

Lamb did not consider the government's announcement as a final victory. "I've been told this many, many times by many different people," he said after finding out that the cars would be allowed on the streets. "We send people out to war without bothering with a three-week consultation process," Lamb said.

Heasman said that even those 2008 Honda models manufactured for use in Canada might not actually be fit with the required device yet, since the Sept. 1-dated regulation may not have given Honda enough time to comply. "It can't happen overnight," she explained.

Meanwhile, Lac St Louis MP Francis Scarpaleggia wrote to Transport Canada on Nov. 27 to urge a solution after hearing from one of his constituents.