Right to repair in Ministerial Mandate Letters

[makzv]

 

 

Summary

 Ministerial Mandate Letters issued by Prime Minister Trudeau on December 16, 2021, directs Ministers to implement a right to repair, including for the repair of “digital devices and systems”.

 

Quotes

Quote

 “Work with the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to implement a ‘right to repair’ to extend the life of home appliances, particularly electronics, by requiring manufacturers to supply repair manuals and spare parts, and by amending the Copyright Act to allow for the repair of digital devices and systems.”

 

My thoughts

 This does not necessarily tell us much, but it is a start. It points out the importance of right to repair, at least from the environmental perspective. How this will be implement remains to be seen. Will this be done through legislation or another policy instrument? It seems it will be through legislation when it comes to the right to repair “digital services and systems”. I’m curious to find out more. This part may be aimed at the John Deere’s of this world. My apologies that there isn’t anything more detailed to share. I thought this would be of interest since right to repair was often brought up these past Wan shows. 

 

Sources

 https://pm.gc.ca/en/mandate-letters/2021/12/16/minister-innovation-science-and-industry-mandate-letter

[TetraSky]

If if ends up passing, that's actually pretty good for us Canadians.

But like you said, it doesn't tell us much, it's literally just that one quote in the entire mandate letter and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets removed/never realized or modified along the way.

[trag1c]

I really hope that the repair section gets pushed through. As it stands we don't have any 'right to repair' legislation (that I know of) so this might help to set a precedent that more than just electronics benefit.

 

Currently the closest thing that I know of for any right to repair in Canada is an agreement with some auto manufactures to provide tools and service information. Unfortunately in the auto world that tooling and service information comes at a very steep cost to independent shops. This has gotten worse with the amount of computer modules within vehicles. It's not uncommon for shops to have to turn customers away because they can't program replaced parts and modules since the OEM scan tools and licensing can cost tens of thousands per year per manufacturer. So it would really help if we had any legislation to set a precedent that can be expanded upon.