Motor Vehicle Fuel Consumption Standards Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. M-9)

Enforcement

Marginal note:Inspectors

• 23 (1) The Minister may designate as an inspector for the purposes of this Act any person who, in his opinion, is qualified to be so designated.

• Marginal note:Certificate to be produced

  (2) The Minister shall furnish every inspector with a certificate of his designation as an inspector and on entering any place described in subsection 24(1) an inspector shall, if so required, produce the certificate to the person in charge of that place.

Marginal note:Powers of inspectors

• 24 (1) An inspector may at any reasonable time enter any place in which he believes on reasonable grounds that there is

  • (a) a motor vehicle of a class for which a fuel consumption standard has been prescribed and that is

    • (i) owned by, or

    • (ii) situated on the premises of

    a company or a consignee of imported motor vehicles,

  • (b) a component of a motor vehicle of a class for which a fuel consumption standard has been prescribed, or

  • (c) any record described in section 21,

  and may

  • (d) examine any motor vehicle, any component of a motor vehicle or any records found in that place,

  • (e) open and examine any package found therein that he believes on reasonable grounds contains any component of a motor vehicle or any records, and

  • (f) require any person to produce for inspection any books, reports, test data, control records, shipping bills, bills of lading or other documents or papers that he believes on reasonable grounds contain any information relevant to the administration or enforcement of this Act, and make copies thereof or extracts therefrom.

• Marginal note:Assistance to inspectors

  (2) The owner or person in charge of a place entered by an inspector pursuant to subsection (1) and every person found therein shall give the inspector all reasonable assistance to enable the inspector to carry out his duties under this Act, and shall furnish the inspector with any information he may reasonably require with respect to the administration or enforcement of this Act.

Marginal note:Obstruction of inspectors

• 25 (1) No person shall obstruct or hinder an inspector engaged in carrying out his duties under this Act.

• Marginal note:False statements

  (2) No person shall knowingly make any false or misleading statement, either orally or in writing, to an inspector engaged in carrying out his duties under this Act.

General

Marginal note:Disclosure is not warranty

26 A disclosure relating to fuel consumption that is required to be made by a company under this Act in respect of tests conducted in accordance with this Act does not create an express or implied warranty by anyone that the fuel consumption established by those tests will be achieved under conditions of actual use.

Marginal note:Privileged information

• 27 (1) Except as provided in this section, information obtained by the Minister under this Act or by the Minister of Natural Resources under subsection (2) is privileged and shall not knowingly be or be permitted to be communicated, disclosed or made available without the written consent of the person from whom it was obtained.

• Marginal note:Certain exceptions

  (2) Information obtained under this Act may be communicated, disclosed or made available for the purposes of the administration or enforcement of this Act, legal proceedings related thereto or criminal proceedings under an Act of Parliament, and may be communicated, disclosed or made available to the Minister of Natural Resources.

• Marginal note:Minister may disclose certain information

  (3) The Minister may disclose

  • (a) registered fuel consumption numbers or fuel consumption numbers derived therefrom;

  • (b) descriptions of the motor vehicles to which any number referred to in paragraph (a) relates; and

  • (c) the company average fuel consumption of any company.

• Marginal note:Disclosure of other information

  (4) In addition to the right to disclose information described in subsection (3), the Minister may, where in his opinion it is in the public interest and will not unduly impair a company’s competitive position, disclose any information obtained under this Act.

• Marginal note:Notification and opportunity to make representations

  (5) Where the Minister proposes to disclose information pursuant to subsection (4) in a form that identifies or permits the identification of the company to which the information relates, he shall so notify the company and afford it a reasonable opportunity to make representations respecting the effect that the disclosure of the information might have on the company’s competitive position.

Marginal note:Evidentiary privilege

28 Notwithstanding any other Act or law, no person who obtains information under this Act shall be required, in connection with any legal proceedings, other than proceedings relating to the administration or enforcement of this Act or criminal proceedings under an Act of Parliament, to give evidence relating to any information that is privileged under this Act or to produce any statement, document, writing or portion thereof containing any such information.

Marginal note:Research and equipment

29 The Minister may

• (a) conduct such research, studies and evaluations as he deems necessary for the administration or enforcement of this Act;

• (b) purchase or lease such equipment as he deems necessary in order to carry out tests under this Act;

• (c) have tests related to this Act carried out by any person; and

• (d) lease or loan equipment owned by Her Majesty to any person, for periods not exceeding twelve months, for testing or research related to this Act.

Offences and Punishment

Marginal note:Offences and punishment

• 30 (1) Every person who

  • (a) contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of this Act, other than subsection 11(1) or 27(1), or the regulations,

  • (b) contravenes an order made by the Minister under section 8,

  • (c) fails to comply with an order of the court under subsection 36(1), or

  • (d) knowingly makes a false or misleading statement in any report or application under this Act

  is guilty of an offence and liable

  • (e) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both, or

  • (f) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding one million dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both.

• Marginal note:Continuing offences

  (2) Where an offence under subsection (1) is committed on more than one day or is continued for more than one day, it shall be deemed to be a separate offence for each day on which the offence is committed or continued.

Marginal note:Offence by employee or agent

31 In any prosecution for an offence under subsection 30(1), it is sufficient proof of the offence to establish that it was committed by an employee or agent of the accused whether or not the employee or agent is identified or has been prosecuted for the offence, unless the accused establishes that the offence was committed without his knowledge or consent and that he exercised all due diligence to prevent its commission.

Marginal note:Officers, etc., of corporations

32 Where a corporation commits an offence under subsection 30(1), any officer, director or agent of the corporation who directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in the commission of the offence is a party to and guilty of the offence and is liable on conviction to the punishment provided for the offence whether or not the corporation has been prosecuted or convicted.

Marginal note:Contravention of subsection 27(1)

33 Every person who contravenes subsection 27(1) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

Marginal note:Limitation period

34 Any proceedings by way of summary conviction in respect of an offence under this Act may be instituted at any time within but not later than two years after the time when the subject-matter of the proceedings arose.

Marginal note:Venue

35 A complaint or information in respect of an offence under this Act may be heard, tried or determined by a court if the accused is resident or carrying on business within the territorial jurisdiction of that court, although the matter of the complaint or information did not arise in that territorial jurisdiction.

Correction of Defects

Marginal note:Company to give notice of defects affecting fuel consumption

• 36 (1) Where a company has been convicted of an offence for contravening section 6 or subsection 19(1) on the basis of paragraph 6(1)(e) or 19(1)(e), as the case may be, and the convicting court is of the opinion that the dissimilarity was in the nature of a defect the result of which is that the registered fuel consumption number does not correctly represent the fuel consumption of that motor vehicle, the court may order the company to give notice forthwith, in the prescribed manner, containing a statement of the means to be taken to correct the defect at the company’s expense, to

  • (a) the person who has obtained that motor vehicle from the company for the purpose of sale or resale;

  • (b) the current owner of that motor vehicle as determined

    • (i) from any warranty by the manufacturer, distributor or importer of that motor vehicle with respect to the functioning of that motor vehicle that has, to the company’s knowledge, been given, sold or transferred to the current owner, or

    • (ii) from provincial motor vehicle registration records; and

  • (c) the Minister.

• Marginal note:Company to correct defects at its own expense

  (2) Where the court makes an order against a company under subsection (1), the company shall, forthwith after giving notice pursuant to that order, correct the defect at its own expense in respect of motor vehicles described in the order

  • (a) in accordance with its usual warranty procedures; or

  • (b) in such manner as the Minister may direct.

• Marginal note:Two year limitation

  (3) A company’s obligation under subsection (2) does not extend to a motor vehicle presented to the company for correction of the defect more than two years after the company gave notice in respect of that motor vehicle pursuant to the court order made under subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Notice by publication in newspapers

  (4) Where it is made to appear to the satisfaction of the Minister that the name of the current owner of a motor vehicle cannot reasonably be determined in the manner provided under paragraph (1)(b),

  • (a) the Minister may order notice to be given by publication in the prescribed form for a period of five consecutive days in two major daily newspapers in each of the six regions of Canada, namely, the Atlantic provinces, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairie provinces, British Columbia, and the three territories, or by an alternative medium for any period that the Minister deems expedient, and the notice is deemed to be notice given in the manner prescribed for the purpose of subsection (1); or

  • (b) the Minister may, in his discretion, order that the current owner need not be notified and that the obligation to notify the current owner of any defect under subsection (1) has been discharged.

• Marginal note:Quarterly reports to be submitted

  (5) Every company that gives a notice mentioned in subsection (1) to the Minister shall submit to the Minister, in the prescribed form and manner, quarterly reports containing prescribed information relating to the defect.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (6) Unless the Minister otherwise directs, the quarterly reports referred to in subsection (5) shall be submitted to the Minister for a period of two years from the date of the notice mentioned in subsection (1).