Significant amendments to CPA: Bill 29
- prohibit merchants (which include manufacturers) from trading in goods for which obsolescence is “planned” and prohibit the use of techniques which make it more difficult for consumers to maintain or repair goods;
- impose a warranty of “good working order”, the duration of which will be determined by regulation, covering the cost of repairs (parts and labour) for certain new goods and used cars;
- require merchants to make available the parts needed to service and repair those goods which are covered by the new warranty “for a reasonable time after the contract has been entered into”, or failing that, to replace the goods free of charge or to refund their purchase price;
- introduce a regime of monetary administrative penalties administered by the Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC), along with penal sanctions, for any breach of the CPA;
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significantly increase the maximum fines in penal proceedings, which, in some cases may be as high as
$125,000 per offence, or an amount equivalent to 5% of the merchant's worldwide sales in the previous financial year; and - provide that any directors, officers, mandataries or representatives of an organization who commit an offence under the CPA or its regulations are presumed to have also committed the offence, unless it is established that they exercised due diligence.
The new provisions will come into force gradually over the next three years.
Consumer protection case law
Negative value of a trade-in vehicle not a CPA violation:
The Court of Appeal granted an appeal of a
The Court of Appeal concluded that Article 148 CPA does not prohibit the trade-in of a good with a negative value if this negative value is properly indicated and included in the new installment sales contract. As a result, the Court settled that the total amount to be paid by the consumer would be higher than the advertised price of the new vehicle but this does not violate the CPA.
Because the sales contracts were made with independent dealerships, the
Higher bar for evidence in misrepresentation claims: Duguay c.
The Court concluded that:
- the plaintiff had not proven that group members had consulted the impugned advertisements and that a “credulous and inexperienced” consumer who read the advertisements would have known that the vehicle's electric propulsion system could have been overridden by the internal combustion system in cold weather;
GM did not fail to disclose any important facts, since the activation of the internal combustion engine in cold weather was not a determining factor in the consumer's consent to enter into a purchase or lease agreement for the vehicle, and also because this fact was mentioned in both the operator's manual and safety warnings relating to the vehicle; and- there was not sufficient proximity between the contents of the representations qualified as false and misleading by the plaintiff and the purchase or lease of a Chevrolet Volt by class members.
The Court, therefore, rejected the class action seeking a reduction of the price paid, along with compensatory and punitive damages.
Director convicted for missing CPA disclosures: Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales c.
The Court concluded that the contacts were, in fact, contracts for the loan of money because a) at the time of entering into the contracts, the consumer was required to make a request for an advance of money in the same amount as the credit limit; b) this amount was directly remitted to the consumer; c) repayment for the capital, interest and fees was made by predetermined, scheduled payments; and d) to obtain a subsequent loan, the consumer was required to have repaid at least 60% of the original loan amount and present a new loan application, which the company could refuse.
The Court found that these characteristics are incompatible with an open credit contract.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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