North American legislators launch Right to Repair task force

Québec, Ontario and New Brunswick legislators aim to advance continental consumer-protection agenda

LAVAL, QC, Aug. 30 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - Guy Ouellette, MNA for Chomedey will preside on a nonpartisan task force of the Council of State Governments to investigate a Right to Repair for consumer products. The committee, which was struck last month, will also include Ontario MPP Micheal Coteau, New Brunswick MLA Daniel Guitard and Prince Edward Island MLA Gordon McNeilly.

"Consumers deserve the Right to Repair their products where they choose," said Coteau, who introduced the first Right to Repair bill in Canada. "Without Right to Repair, consumers will continue to be forced to pay the original manufacturer exorbitant prices, or to throw away damaged products because the cost of fixing the item is prohibitive. This is an unnecessary expense for consumers, a wasteful harm to our environment, and it limits the opportunities for small business repair shops."

In Quebec, Guy Ouellette tabled a petition calling for a Right to Repair with over 45,000 signatures. He said, "The large number of signatories shows that planned obsolescence is a problem that preoccupies a large part of the population. It is our responsibility to consider the important environmental impacts and to protect consumers through the promotion of open markets. As a matter of fact, according to a recent Canadian survey published in June 2019, 75% of Canadians agreed on the Right to Repair."

Bills have been introduced in Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey and fifteen other States mostly since December 2018. MPP Coteau introduced Bill 72 on the right to repair in February 2019, followed by MNA Ouellette who proposed Bill 197 against planned obsolescence and the right to repair last April.

The task force was launched July 29th at the Council of State Governments Eastern Regional Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and will work with legislators across five Canadian provinces, eleven American states and two territories to explore what this approach might mean for consumer protection. 

SOURCE Députés indépendants

Adrienne Pilon, Attachée politique, Bureau du député de Chomedey, M. Guy Ouellette, 418-644-4050, [email protected]