Apr 11
Thanks Mr. Cannon - Now please “Just do IT!”
”This proposed amendment would offer more choice to Canadians who wish to import vehicles,” said Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. “At the same time, it would help to maintain the safety of Canadian roads.”
Cannon is quoted in the Globe and Mail April 10th. We are all glad to hear this, but why wait till the end of spring. Pass the law on April 22nd, please.
We wonder if our constant e-mails and petitions had anything to do with this.
2008-04-06letterand-petition.pdf
Now let’s change the “self-certification” rule!
Even more surprising is David Adams, “”The fewer the barriers you have in cross-border movement of vehicles, the greater the pressure will be to ensure that product offerings in Canada are competitive,” said David Adams, president of AIAMC, the trade group that represents most non-North American-based auto makers in Canada.”
This guy represents Honda, Toyota,BMW etc… wonder what he has to say about preventing US dealers from selling to Canadians!
April 12th, 2008 at 12:16 am
Ryan W from London, Canada writes: Kudos to the government for getting rid of the bumper requirments. Let the fun cars come!
Posted 10/04/08 at 10:13 AM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
Shoot and Score More and More from Bureaucra-City, Kazakhstan writes: What? No more fiddly Canadian vehicle tech-specs to impose on the car-buying public? Whatever will those nit-picking flinty-eyed minions at Transport Canada find to do with their days now? Those new bumpers are going to kill someone one of these days, mark my words!
I know. Let’s re-assign them to tracking down contraband cigarette-rolling machines on native reserves. A little more hazardous, but no doubt a more exciting kind of law enforcement activity.
Ahh, a bureaucrat’s work is never done …
Posted 10/04/08 at 2:35 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
r alexander from Canada writes: Way I remember it, US bumper standards used to be more stringent, in line with Canadian standards, until Ronald Reagan became president. At that time, nominally to conserve energy and to save the consumer money, bumper standards were relaxed. Oddly enough, the savings didn’t seem to be passed on to the consumer. Don’t think fuel economy measurably improved either. But now, in the event of a minor bump, there was a better chance of the car having damage that required repair. Hmmm… did that help the consumer or say, the auto companies selling parts? “Consumer Reports” in the U.S. decried the easing of bumper standards, and still talks about it once in a while, saying that the consumer would be better served by making bumper standards more stringent. So, do I think this a good thing? Maybe in that it’ll be easier to import cars and there will be more pressure on the manufacturers to bring car prices in line.
Posted 10/04/08 at 2:50 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
r alexander from Canada writes: Guess the next ‘improvement’ will be the elimination of daytime running lights…
Posted 10/04/08 at 2:51 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
bill johnson from Quebec, Canada writes: This was an excellent move by Mr. Cannon and PM Harper. The closer are standards are, the lower the rip-off factor in Canada. Next move: TC determines what cars come in, without consulting (approval of) the companies. Letting them determine admission is kind of like foxes in the hen house. Especially Mercedes.
Posted 10/04/08 at 5:38 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
Broken Record from Victoria, B.C., Canada writes: It’s about time but there are still lots of non-tariff barriers left, despite what the article says.
Posted 10/04/08 at 7:14 PM EDT | Alert an Editor | Link to Comment
April 12th, 2008 at 12:18 am
Excellent move! http://www.carswithoutborders.com, protecting the Canadian Automobile Consumer and pushing for fair pricing, has been active on this file for quite some time.
Thank -you to all our members and supporters that have taken their time to get involved.
Now lets get rid of the “self-certification” regime.
Robert Lamb
Co-founder
Carswithoutborders
April 12th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
ONE SMALL STEP FOR CARS WITHOUT BORDERS ONE GIANT LEAP FOR CANADIANS
THANKS ROBERT AND SERGE
April 12th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Great! Thanks carswithoutborders!
Now, I wonder if we can make that immobilizer requirement disappear!
April 12th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
This is excellent news. I beleive this would have been impossible without carswithoutborders.com
One by one we have to take away all the excuses manufacturese are using to gouge Canadians and at the same time we must ensure no further barriers are erected against importation from States.
As long as cross border shopping is open manufacturers will not be able gouge us.
Hopefully this is the begining of many positive developments to come.
Thank you Serge, Robert and all the members of carswithoutborders.
April 13th, 2008 at 7:06 am
this is great news but there is still the “DRL must be on at all times” requirement.
April 13th, 2008 at 8:46 am
This is fantastic news! Way to go Robert and Serge, and to all the participating members who wanted this change.
April 13th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Now that I think of it, will this type of parity eventually remove the need for the Recall Clearance Letter? Any thoughts?
April 13th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Because most recalls are forced on the companies by governments (US and Canada) , I don’t see why any car that changes hands should not be checked for recalls as a safety measure. Recalls MUST be performed by the manufacturer because they have a malfunction in the car. They are the ones responsible, they are doing reverse psychology here on importers. They should feel bad for having recalls outstanding on cars and all recalls fixing should be done for free and urgently.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:35 am
We get a lot of thank you’s here, and we are very glad with these successes, but really Bob and I are the enablers. All of you supporting members, those that write, that read, that sign the petition, that tell their families and friends and call up their MP’s, Ministers and finally those telling their local dealers that they won’t get the sale at that price. This is all of us and this is why it is working. Canadians standing up together - one step at a time, we will get there.
April 18th, 2008 at 12:52 am
has anyone heard of what timeframe the bumper harmonization will be passed? I have purchased an 2004 AudiTT that i am storing in Montana, waiting to bring into canada
April 21st, 2008 at 8:45 pm
i have a friend who recently brought in an 05 Audi TT, had the daytime running lights turned on and digital read outs programmed by a u.s. dealer, got the form 2 went to CDN Tire and the car passed both fed and prov inspections without bumper mods even though form 2 equested verification of bumper mods (probably just lucky) but you might want to just give it a shot