More than 50 years after its adoption, the Consumer Protection Act needs to be modernized, believe three experts who discussed the subject at Option consommateurs’ annual benefit event.
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
During a round table organized by Option consommateurs and moderated by the columnist of The Press Marie-Eve Fournier, the three consumer law experts were unanimous. In an evolving market, with new practices and technologies appearing every week and changing consumer habits, the law needs to be modernized.
“It is the cornerstone of the policy, the Consumer Protection Act ; when it’s obsolete, it’s like a construction that is cracked, which has hidden defects, and everyone suffers from it, ”illustrated Louis Borgeat, president of the Consumer Protection Office from 2007 to 2014.
Nathalie Vézina, professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Sherbrooke, observes with indignation all the clauses of exclusion of responsibility and notice of non-liability illegal in the contracts. An uninformed consumer will mistakenly believe that he has no rights against a merchant who does not render the service for which he paid.
No matter what product or service purchase you make, there is always the little clause that suggests that the problem you are having does not apply and is not covered.
Nathalie Vézina, professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Sherbrooke
“If the stakes aren’t high, the consumer won’t go looking for information,” says Ms.me Vezina. And meanwhile, the merchant or service provider benefits.
“We made ad hoc changes to meet urgent needs,” says the law professor. So we have a piece of legislation that is patchwork with little pieces that have been added over time. »
She wonders about the right way to develop the Consumer Protection Act. “This is where I am ambivalent, because we could decide to rebuild everything, to start all over again, but we could lose what we have achieved. »
Nathalie Vézina suggests rewriting the law in more accessible language so that lawyers and consumers can navigate it, because currently, she says, only lawyers specializing in the field can decode it.
“Lemon Law”
Jacques Castonguay, former member of the Board of Directors of Option consommateurs, has developed expertise in the automotive sector. Like some US states, he would like to see the addition of a “lemon law”. This law makes it possible to reimburse and compensate consumers who have purchased a vehicle with perpetual mechanical problems.
“It would, in my opinion, avoid any type of costs to initiate proceedings for annulment of the contract. This process, he says, requires a lot of energy, time and money on the part of the consumer, who must go to court with a lawyer.
For the moment, the modification of the law is not in the cards of the government, already very occupied by the shortage of manpower, climate change, immigration, health and education, underlines Louis Borgeat. However, “the ideal situation to provoke legislation is a crisis. When there is a crisis, governments are hypersensitive, he says. Maybe it’s an opportunity to go to the minister and say: listen, the pandemic has caused incredible things. »