Bill C-511

3rd Session, 40th Parliament,

59-60 Elizabeth II, 2010-2011

house of commons of canada

BILL C-511

An Act respecting the reporting of motor vehicle information and to amend the Motor Vehicle Safety Act (improving public safety)

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the Proactive Enforcement and Defect Accountability Legislation (PEDAL) Act.

2. [Deleted]

MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY ACT

3. Section 2 of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

“safety-related defect” means a defect in the design, construction or functioning of any vehicle or equipment of a class for which standards are prescribed that affects or is likely to affect the safety of any person;

4. Subparagraph 5(1)(g)(ii) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(ii) facilitating the identification and anal- ysis of safety-related defects; and

5. (1) The heading before section 10 of the Act is replaced by the following:

NOTICE OF SAFETY-RELATED DEFECTS

(2) The portion of subsection 10(1) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

10. (1) A company that manufactures, sells or imports any vehicle or equipment of a class for which standards are prescribed shall, on becoming aware of a safety-related defect, cause notice of the defect to be given in accordance with the regulations to

(3) Subsection 10(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(2) A company is not required to cause notice to be given of a safety-related defect of which notice has already been given under this section by another company that manufactured, sold or imported the vehicle or equipment.

(4) Paragraph 10(3)(a) of the English version of the Act is replaced by the following:

(a) the Minister may order the company to give notice of the safety-related defect by publication in the prescribed form for a period of five consecutive days in two major daily newspapers in each of the following six regions, namely, the Atlantic provinces, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairie provinces, British Columbia and the Territories, or by dissemination in an alternative medium for such period as the Minister determines; or

(5) Subsection 10(4) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(4) A notice required to be given under subsections (1) and (3) shall contain, in the form and to the extent prescribed, a description of the safety-related defect, an evaluation of the safety risk arising from it and directions for correcting it.

(6) Subsection 10(6) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(6) Every company that causes notice to be given under subsection (1) shall submit a report containing prescribed information respecting the safety-related defect and its correction to the Minister in the prescribed form within the prescribed period and quarterly thereafter.

6. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 10:

10.1 Every company that manufactures any vehicle or equipment of a class for which standards are prescribed shall, in accordance with the regulations, report to the Minister all incidents in respect of which the company has been notified in writing that involve

(a) death or serious injury in Canada that is caused, or alleged to be caused, by a possible safety-related defect in a vehicle or equipment manufactured by the company; and

(b) death or serious injury outside of Canada that is caused, or alleged to be caused, by a possible safety-related defect in a vehicle or equipment that is identical or substantially similar to a vehicle or equipment offered for sale in Canada.

10.2 (1) If, through testing, inspection, investigation, research or other means, the Minister makes a preliminary determination that any vehicle or equipment manufactured in Canada or imported into Canada contains a potential safety-related defect, the Minister shall, without delay, give written notice of that determination to the company that manufactured or imported the vehicle or equipment and publish a notice of that determination in the Canada Gazette.

(2) After making a preliminary determination under subsection (1), the Minister shall give the company referred to in that subsection, and all other parties with a legitimate interest, an opportunity to present information and arguments in the prescribed manner in relation to the issue of whether the vehicle or equipment referred to in that subsection contains a safety-related defect.

7. Subsection 15(3) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(3) An inspector may require any person to produce for examination any books, records, reports, test data, shipping bills, bills of lading or other documents or electronically stored data that the inspector believes on reasonable grounds contain any information relevant to the enforcement of this Act or to the identification or analysis of a safety-related defect, and may make copies of or take extracts from any of them.