Bill 9 2007

An Act to require the disclosure of the country of origin and the components of motor vehicles sold in Ontario

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Definition

   1.  In this Act,

"motor vehicle" means an automobile, motorcycle, motor assisted bicycle and any other vehicle propelled or driven otherwise than by muscular power, but does not include a street car, any other motorized vehicle running only upon rails, a motorized snow vehicle, a traction engine, a farm tractor or other self-propelled machinery primarily intended for farming or construction purposes.

Disclosure requirements

   2.  (1)  No person or body shall sell or offer to sell a motor vehicle in Ontario unless,

  (a)  all advertising done to promote the sale of the vehicle clearly indicates the information described in subsection (3);

  (b)  any contract for the sale of the vehicle, if the vehicle is delivered to the purchaser under the contract after the day on which this Act comes into force, clearly indicates the information described in subsection (3); and

   (c)  the information described in subsection (3) is clearly indicated on the vehicle when it is delivered to the purchaser, if it is delivered to the purchaser after the day on which this Act comes into force.

Same, advertiser

   (2)  No person or body shall publish advertising to promote the sale of a motor vehicle in Ontario unless it clearly indicates the information described in subsection (3).

Information to disclose

   (3)  The information that a person or body is required to disclose under subsection (1) or (2) is,

  (a)  the name of the country in which the motor vehicle was produced;

  (b)  a list of the components, if any, that make up the motor vehicle, set out in decreasing order of the proportion in which they make up the vehicle; and

   (c)  the name of the country in which each of the components, if any, that make up the motor vehicle was produced and the proportion in which each of them makes up the vehicle.

Vehicle with components

   (4)  For the purposes of clause (3) (a), if a motor vehicle is made up of components, the country in which the vehicle was produced is the country in which the components were assembled to produce the vehicle and is not the country in which each of the components was produced.

Offences

   3.  (1)  A person or body that contravenes section 2 is guilty of an offence unless it was reasonable in the circumstances for the person or body to rely on information provided to the person or body in the normal course of business.

Directors, officers

   (2)  It is an offence for any director or officer of a corporation to cause, authorize, permit, or participate or acquiesce in the commission by the corporation of an offence mentioned in subsection (1).

Penalty

   (3)  A person or body convicted of an offence under this Act is liable to,

  (a)  if the person or body is not a corporation, a fine of not more than $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than one year, or to both; or

  (b)  if the person or body is a corporation, to a fine of not more than $500,000.

Regulations

   4.  (1)  The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,

  (a)  exempting any person, body or thing or class of persons, bodies or things from any or all of the provisions of this Act and the regulations made under this Act;

  (b)  defining, for the purposes of section 2 but subject to subsection 2 (4), advertising, contract and the country in which a motor vehicle is produced;

   (c)  specifying the manner of indicating the country as required by section 2.

Scope

   (2)  A regulation made under this Act may be general or particular in its application.

Commencement

   5.  This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

   6.  The short title of this Act is the Motor Vehicle Origin and Components Disclosure Act, 2007.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill requires advertisers and persons or bodies that sell or offer to sell motor vehicles in Ontario to clearly indicate in the advertising and sales contracts the country in which the vehicles and their constituent components were produced and the proportion in which each of the components makes up the vehicles. Sellers are also required to clearly indicate that information on motor vehicles that are delivered to purchasers. It is an offence to contravene the requirements.