2020- 2022 Policy Process | Green Party of Canada
Where GPC membership collaborates to develop our policies
G21-P012 Right to Repair: A Circular Economy Imperative
Submitter Name
Jeremy Leite
Ratification Vote Results: Adopted
Proposal
The GPC supports the broad application of right to repair legislation.
Objective
Right to repair legislation would provide consumers the knowledge and allow them the ability to repair, among others, their own consumer electronic devices, appliances, vehicles, and farm equipment — without voiding warranties.
Benefit
Right to repair combats planned obsolescence and reduces consumer waste by allowing repairs of existing products and extending their lifetime rather than purchasing new ones. It offers a more affordable alternative to replacing items entirely, and will support a significant new source of jobs in the repair industry.
Supporting Comments from Submitter
As of 2021, manufacturers in the European Union will need to make spare parts available to professional repairers for up to 10 years, which is one aspect of right to repair laws. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_19_5895
Can be paired with supports and incentives (as in Sweden) to further encourage repairs and support the growth of a repairs industry.
Right to repair legislation was introduced as a private member’s bill (Liberal) in Ontario in 2019 but did not pass (https://mobilesyrup.com/2019/02/18/ontario-mpp-right-repair/); Bill 197 in Quebec (another private member's bill) is a similar example.
http://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/travaux-parlementaires/projets-loi/projet-loi-197-42-1.html?appelant=MC
Canadians are broadly unfamiliar with the right to repair, but most support it when it is explained.
Green Value(s)
Sustainability, Social Justice, Ecological Wisdom.
Relation to Existing Policy
Add to current GPC policy.
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Conversation with Neil
Private members Bill C-272 was proposed by an LPC MP this year and would have given the right to repair. It passed second reading by a vote of 330 to 0. The Bill died when the election was called.
The last clause "without voiding warranties" is problematic, however. If your "repairs" cause damage to the equipment (and changes in software can quite easily lead to damage in hardware - especially in complex machinery such as combine harvesters and engines) then you are responsible for the damage to your machinery. The manufacturer should not be liable. The result would be higher prices in order to cover the costs of fixing the users' "repairs." It removes the incentive to be careful: "Somebody else will fix my mistakes, and since it is under warranty it won't cost me anything!" If anything, it incentivizes carelessness because you can claim any damages were done when you tried to repair it.
This proposal needs better wording or the last words removed.
Yes, "The last clause "without voiding warranties" is problematic"
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