Feb 25
We have it here if you missed it! Mario tells all on National Radio!
If you missed the broadcast on Zack Spencer’s “Driving” radio show, here it is. Enjoy! Mario tells it like it is! Please keep writing your letters and e-mails in support of Mario.
If you haven’t yet please sign our petition. (on the right of your screen under “Get Involved” )
Here is Transport Canada’s new logo
Special thanks to Zack Spencer for bringing this issue out Nationally!
February 25th, 2008 at 11:53 am
I have a coleague that resides in the U.S. and does business all over the world.
I am not sure of any of the legalities, but this may be a viable work around until this gets worked out with the Canadian government.
1. Arrange for your own post office box within the U.S.
2. Now that you can show a U.S. address, obtain a U.S. Drivers licence
3. Take the car back to the U.S.
4. Licence and insure the car in the U.S.
5. Drive the car back to Canada.
NOTES: I don’t know all the details around doing this so you may have to investigate this more, but I do know that there are many Canadians driving vehicles in Canada with U.S. plates on it.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
hey Robert. The link isn’t working right now.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Way to go Mario and thanks to Zack Spencer for bringing this issue to
light in a new medium , hopefully this nonsense will all be resolved
soon . This makes absolutely no sense to me , if a car is non abmissable
how is it that gm (or any other mfgr) can sell 08 models throught their dealer
network in canada ? If a vehicle cannot be imported by a private citizen it
should no be allowed to be sold in canada by the manufacturer period !
February 25th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
It is working for me
http://www.esnips.com/doc/3b4eedc6-c80a-4dc1-8189-fe6faba44db3/2008-02-24MariowithZackSpencerMP3
February 25th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
In this interview with Mr. Mario Turanovic I hear that he has been given a run-around
by GM and the RIV.
As commented on previously, the RIV is operated by a company called Livingston
International Inc. Some background from the following source:
http://www.tdslogistics.com/syncreonframe.php?from=http%3A//www.tdslogistics.com/en/content/view/142/30/
(The company) ” . . . started life, in 1941, as the Canadian-based Livingston Export
Packaging Company, boxing parts for the Ford Motor Company destined for other parts of the
manufacturer’s sales empire. Over the years it added first General Motors and then
American Motors (now part of Daimler Chrysler) to its client list, while, at the behest
of customers, also extended its activities across the border into the US. . . . ”
I’ll fill in some specifics: The company founder, Mr. Gerry Livingston, was a former car
company executive and Livingston Industries Ltd. was one of the company’s earlier names.
In the early eighties, Livingston Export Packing Inc (LEPI), one of the Livingston group
of companies, advertised itself as “Canada’s largest CKD export packer” with three
packing facilities in Ontario (Tillsonburg, London and Hagersville) and one in Florida
(Jacksonville). The work LEPI did for the auto industry was extensive. CKD– Complete
Knocked Down — was the operation through which the parts needed to assemble cars in
overseas car plants were packed for export in wooden crates. That’s a huge number of crates
packed by Livingston. A related website mentions “one million” crates by the year 1957 !
(How many crates would another 30 years represent? ) Livingston had to have learned a
thing or two about parts over those four decades of work for the U.S. car industry. There
was a management buyout of the packing operation at the end of 1986.
Since I too was doing business with Livingston, I have no doubt as to the competence and
merits of the fine group of companies I knew. After having correctly identified, organized,
and packed millions of parts destined for american cars assembled in other countries it
stands to reason that Livingston would have had impressive credentials to present to
Transport Canada in the process years later (I don’t know exactly when) of being chosen
to act as RIV.
Nonetheless when I heard the radio interview it was difficult to separate in my mind the
RIV’s historical links to the U.S. auto industry and the current problems being faced by
some consumers, whether over GM bumpers or anything else. On one hand I ask whether the
RIV is completely free to act on behalf of Canadians in an unbiased manner. On the other
there are questions as to whether the RIV should get involved in pronouncements of a
technical nature as to the admissability of cars. If there is any company that has the
experience and background to stand up to the auto industry on questions related to
Canadian standards then shouldn’t a company like Livingston fit the bill? (Just think of
the tens of thousands of bumpers they handled in the shipments just for one GM plant in
Venezuela.)
Fair questions for Transport Canada. My guess is that few people there, perhaps not even
Mr. Cannon, would be aware of how over a period of 66 years one thing may relate to the
other.
February 25th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Bob,
Love the new TC logo!! We should all get matching t-shirts and or jackets and hold a press conference!! LOL
Mario
February 25th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
In response to Ricardo,
Thank you for your most informative note outlining the history of the Livingston companies. All that I can tell you, in the case of the RIV, it seems to be a division of Livingston Customs Brokers. After being awarded the contract from TC, which I am assuming was the result of a fair sealed bidding process.
Even thought there is a lot of rich history of automotive knowledge, the RIV now only collects information about the admissibility of various vehicles that is VOLUNTARILY provided to it by the automobile manufacturers. It has no powers of audit or verification of any kind. It certainly begins to look like nothing more than a spruced-up customer service call center. TC could have just as easily farmed this function out to India much like Dell Computers & Bell Canada have done.
Presently the RIV acts as a buffer between the public and TC as well as the automobile manufacturers. This way TC and the automobile manufacturers get shielded from any “heat” that may arise from the general public.
As you noted above, since Livingston has such an intertwined past with the automobile manufacturers one would speculate that they might be in a real conflict of interest position here and hence should not be performing these tasks all together.
My thoughts,
Mario
February 25th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Bob, I also think it’s a great logo.
We could call it a Loco Logo in honour of the Nutcases, that not work, but spend time there. Great job.