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Government Relations Update

Posted on: July 10th, 2012 by electroadmin No Comments

Copyright Modernization:

Although many stakeholder groups including EFC lobbied the government for more time to make changes to some provisions of the Act, the Senate passed Bill C-11 on Friday as widely expected. Some of the major highlights of the Act include:

  • Fair dealing being extended to education, satire, and parody use.
  • Time shifting officially allowed if the work was obtained legally.
  • ISPs being required to notify users that they may be infringing copyrights if the ISPs are alerted to it.
  • Individual liability for damages to $20K for commercial use to $5K for non-commercial use.
  • Express prohibition from breaking digital locks, even where the work was obtained legally.

From an organization perspective, due-diligence in the area of the images used on company websites and in  magazines and brochures should be reviewed on a regular basis. Click here for more information

Canadian Anti-Spam legislation (CASL):  EFC continued to monitor developments regarding the Canadian Anti-Spam legislation(CASL).  It appears the proposed regs will be published in Part I of the Canada Gazette in September. The delay from the original intended implementation of June was the result of Industry Canada’s (IC) extensive internal consultations with officials driven by many of the concerns that have been raised by EFC and other stakeholder groups. Once the proposed regs are published, there will be a 30-day consultation period before final regs are prepared. The coming into force will be some time in 2013. EFC will continue to advocate for at least one year coming into force date after the final regs are published.

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP): After consultations through the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), the Government of Canada announced that Canada will be incorporated into the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.  The current TPP countries are Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.  The TPP presents an opportunity to build on the commitments of NAFTA. Prime Minister Harper’s announcement can be found here:  http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=1&featureId=6&pageId=26&id=4874

Canadian Consumer Product Safety Act:  EFC will continue to monitor Heath Canada’s (HC) proposed Regulations to enable the implementation of an Administrative Monetary Penalty (AMP) system laid out within the CCPSA.  The proposed Regulations would prescribe the time and manner in which the penalty would be calculated, modified, and paid as well as the manner in which certain documents referred to in the proposed Regulations must be provided.

EFC participated in a coalition consultation regarding incident reporting under the CCPSA.  Of particular concern for EFC members is the dual reporting obligations some companies face for certain electrical incidents.  HC indicated that they are currently working with the ESA to establish a solution to the dual reporting concerns.  We expect to hear from them in the fall on this issue.

Regulatory Cooperation Council: EFC will continue to work with Standards Council of Canada to provide guidance and recommendations on Canada’s standardization priorities, including support of regulatory objectives under the Regulatory Cooperation Council.

Chemicals Management Plan:  EFC will continue to work with Environment Canada (EC) on streamlining the approach to the second phase of the Domestic Substances List Inventory Update under the Chemicals Management Plan.  EC will develop guidance in consultation with interested stakeholders and identify opportunities for group submissions.  They are aiming to publish these guidelines in September 2012 and hold information sessions in October and November.

 Government Relations Committee:    The current members of the Committee include Morgan Elliott (RIM), serving as Chair, Veso Sobot (IPEX Electrical), serving as Co-Chair, Elaine Gerrie (Gerrie Electric Wholesale Limited), Bill Hammond (Hammond Power Solutions Inc.), Dave Sharpe (Rockwell Automation Canada Inc.), Ross Hornby (GE Canada), and Ross Robinson (BA Robinson Company Limited), Vladimir V. Gagachev (Eaton), and Eric Schmidt (Southwire Canada Company). 

 

For more information, contact Brisette Lucas at blucas@electrofed.com

Current Government Initiatives

Posted on: July 10th, 2012 by electroadmin No Comments

Government Relations Update

Copyright Modernization:

Although many stakeholder groups including EFC lobbied the government for more time to make changes to some provisions of the Act, the Senate passed Bill C-11 on Friday as widely expected. Some of the major highlights of the Act include:

  • Fair dealing being extended to education, satire, and parody...Read More »

A Year in Review and a Look Ahead

Brisette Lucas, Vice-President, Government Relations & Policy

2011 was a very interesting and busy year for government relations, and 2012 promises more of the same. Because EFC believes it is just as important to be reminded about what has happened in the past...Read More »


 

Federal Budget

On March 29th, Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty presented the federal budget, with a deficit of $21.1 billion. Liberal Interim Leader Bob Rae criticized the Conservative budget for moving the retirement age from 65 to 67, and NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair stated that the Prime Minister was putting retirement security and primary health care in peril.

Due to the Conservative majority, the opposition cannot do anything to vote down the budget. Minister Flaherty defended the budget and touted its job creation strategy.

Some highlights from the federal budget include:

  1. 19,200 federal public sector jobs to be cut over three years.
  2. Production of the penny to be discontinued.
  3. Limits on 24-hour and 48-hour duty free exemption for cross-border shopping to increase.
  4. Eligibility age for Old Age Security changed from 65 to 67.
  5. Funding to the CBC cut by 10% over three years.
  6. The Governor General will pay income taxes.
  7. Review period for major developmental projects will be capped at 24 months, including the already in progress review for the Northern Gateway pipeline.
  8. $1.1 billion over the next five years on direct research and development support.

Ontario Budget

On March 27th, Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan presented Ontario’s budget, with a deficit of $15.3 billion. Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak criticized lack of reduction of corporate income taxes, while Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath called on the Liberal minority to increase taxes on those earning $500,000 a year or more.

At one point, the fate of Premier McGuity`s minority government was questionable. While Hudak mentioned that every member of his caucus will vote against the Liberal budget, Horwath remained the decision-maker. On April 24th, the Liberal government was spared with the NDP making the unusual move of abstaining from the vote. This meant the budget passed 52 to 37, with each member of Liberal caucus voting in favour and each member of the Progressive Conservative caucus voting against the budget.

Some highlights from Ontario’s budget include:

  1. A wage freeze for MPPs and other provincial civil servants.
  2. Mandating high-income seniors to pay more for their prescription medication.
  3. Implement full-day kindergarten by fall 2014.
  4. Corporate tax rates maintained at 11.5% until budget is balanced.
  5. Provincial funding for the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Luminato Festival will be reduced.
  6. Reducing and capping Ontario’s clean energy benefit rebate eligibility level to 3,000 kilowatt hours.
  7. Tax increase for Ontarians earning more than $500,000 per year.

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Posted on: July 4th, 2012 by electroadmin No Comments

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The Canadian Appliance Manufacturers Association

Posted on: April 26th, 2012 by electroadmin No Comments

 

Report Indicates Key Considerations in Canadian

Consumers’ Appliance Purchasing Decisions

Canadian Appliance Manufacturers Association (CAMA) Releases Comprehensive

2012 Major Appliance Industry Trends and Facts Report

  

Toronto, ON, April, 2012 – The Canadian Appliance Manufacturers Association (CAMA), an Electro-Federation Canada (EFC) council, has released its 2012 Major Appliance Industry Trends and Facts Report.

In a tough economic climate, consumers continue to value the environment in their purchase decisions. Innovation combined with energy efficiency are drivers as the appliance sector continues bring to market new design options that are easier to use, reduce average household energy consumption  and are more capable than ever before. This includes new display technologies and smart appliances,

Central to this report, is data on historical unit sales, provincial sales, feature trends, and seasonality charts for seven major appliance categories: refrigerators, freezers, ranges, dishwashers, microwave ovens, laundry products, and air conditioners. This data is extracted directly from CAMA’s monthly statistical program.

Featured articles highlighted in this report include energy efficiency, extended producer responsibility, packaging and paper and key trends in the service industry. Included are appliance industry statistics and trends as well as information on economic data, consumer spending, import data and U.S. statistics

The 2012 Major Appliance Industry Trends and Facts Report is available for purchase in digital ($500) or print ($650) formats plus HST. To purchase the report, download an order form at http://www.electrofed.com/cama/about-us/business-data-research/

For archives of the publication, or for historical information dating back to the early 1970s, contact info@electrofed.com or call 905-602-8877.

CAMA is a council of Electro-Federation Canada (EFC), a national, not-for-profit industry association. EFC’s councils represent over 330 member companies that manufacture, distribute, and service electrical and electronics products in Canada; contributing over $50B to the Canadian economy and employing more than 130,000 workers in more than 1,400 facilities across the country. Learn more at http://www.electrofed.com/cama/.

EFC provides a powerful nucleus around which the Canadian electrical, consumer electronics, appliance and

telecommunications markets gain competitiveness in the global market through representation on issues

and opportunities impacting electro-technical businesses. Visit www.electrofed.com.

The 2012 ENERGY STAR Participants’ Meeting

Posted on: April 26th, 2012 by electroadmin No Comments

Review details on this June 5th event at the Natural Resources Canada information page http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/equipment/manufacturers/participants-meeting/15784