Today the Canwest follow-up story to the 3 part series concerning the Bathhurst tragedy focuses on Transport Canada’s lack of leadership and its inability to adopt CSA standards to protect human lives on our roads.
The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) has been after Transport Canada to adopt school-bus transportion standards that they had spent years working on.
Spokesman Ron Campbell stated “The CSA wouldn’t have gone into this if we felt those vans were providing the safety that was needed” , he went onto state “I don’t understand why, after the Bathhurst tragedy, this hasn’t been changed”.
It appears that Transport Canada - sticks its head in the sand as Canadian Citizens die needlessly on our roads. How much time and $$$ have Ford lobbyists spent in the offices of Transport Canada.
John Baird mintc@tc.gc.ca , Lawrence Cannon….. same fishy smell, different name.
Since Ford is appearing to be bouncing back, promoting a new stable of safety focused cars maybe they should either spend some time and funds to modify the Vans to the CSA standard or just stop production.
For full story: 2009-09-10gazette.pdf
Almost two years after the tragic accident that took the lives of 7 New Brunswick high school athletes Transport Canada continues to dodge the public and has not followed any of the major safety recommendations that were adopted by an inquest into the accident.
CanWest has let one of it’s top reporters, Richard Foot, out on a 3-part story concerning the accident, the repercussions and the inactions of Transport Canada and all levels of Govts in Canada to protect Canadian citizens.
The 15 Passenger Ford van - referred to as a “death trap” has been “outlawed” in the United States for several years, yet only Quebec and Nova Scotia and New Brunswick has enacted laws to ban the use of these vehicles to transport school children.
Transport Canada won’t even respond to requests from Canwest reporter Richard Foot to be interviewed.
Again we see that the “lobby” groups in Ottawa appear to be pulling all the strings. We wonder when our politicians will wake up and start doing the right things!
The U.S. , despite its failings in many areas always appears better tuned into consumer safety issues.
Please take a moment and call or write your local MP or MPP(MNA). This 15 Passenger van is a dangerous vehicle and should not be on the road period.
Canwest Articles 2009-09-08
How can Transport Canada expend so much in resources and $$$ to prevent Canadians from importing cars that meet U.S. safety standards, when such serious life taking issues remain unattended.
Well one of our members took some time and discovered were Aaron found his information concerning Edmonds.com’s Clunker list.
CNNMoney.com senior reporter Peter Vaides-Dapena sums up the accounting diferences as “Edmonds.com uses traditional sales measurements, tallying sales by make and model. The Government uses a more arcane measurement that subdivides models according to engine and transmission types” ….” Edmonds.com “Top ten Clunker Buys” list is based on transaction data collected directly from dealers”.
“The Ford Escape crossover SUV, instead of being the seventh most popular vehicle under the program, as the Govt ranked it, was actually the best according to Edmonds.com”
“The Truth About Cars” writer Robert Farago also picked up on this issue. And compares the two lists . He writes that “the DOT (Govt) manipulated the data to hide the fact that a brace of SUVs and pickup trucks made the top ten; the Cash for Clunkers program is supposed to be about saving the environment”
Here are the two sets of rankings.
So in retrospect, yes, we might have jumped the gun and assumed that GM and Chrysler were not profiting from the program, ( as did every major newspaper and media outlet across Canada) but it has not changed our opinion that unless the Canadian and U.S. Govts adopt “protectionist” policies to ensure that the public purchases GM and Chrysler products, it is only a matter of time before they come back for more money.
Another issue is why Edmonds reported this information through CNNMoney but did not appear to have any posting of such on its own Website?
Today, we received confimation in writing that Audi Canada would honor the warranty in Canada of all US purchased vehicles.
“All Audi warranties on 2009 vehicles take on the warranty coverage for the country in which the vehicle is located at the time it is serviced or repaired”….. “I trust this information is helpful in reassuring you as to the warranty coverage on a 2009 Audi vehicle that you may purchase in the U.S. and relocate to Canada” .
This following letter is very professional and we appreciate the time and effort that Audi Canada representatives took to clarify and document the issue.
Excellent customer service.
Now how come Honda Canada and GM Canada can’t operate like this.
One of our members sent in the following cost comparison on a Lincoln MKT. It appears that with the employee discount, The Lincoln MKT Eco Boost AWD is cheaper in Canada!
It appears that Ford has the “employee discount pricing” incentive only in Canada. Although if Americans have clunckers they can save up to an additional $4500.
Despite the Employee Pricing Discount, the difference would be minimal. Ford seems to have established their pricing models with a 90 cent loonie. Congratulations Ford, Thanks for being fair to Canadians!
