A dealer went to OMVIC with a legitimate complaint. A dealer sold them a vehicle with insufficient disclosure.
OMVIC spoke to the selling dealer, but nothing was resolved, and the dealer was told by OMVIC all they could do was sue.
No regulatory action was taken by OMVIC.
The dealer told OMVIC they were not satisfied with their service.
This is what the dealer said:
And this is what OMVIC said back to the dealer:
I am sorry you feel this way, but OMVIC is a neutral unbiased party, we do not bow down to any dealer. I also wanted to clarify that you do not pay me, nor do you pay my staff. Your license fees provide you with the privilege to operate as a motor vehicle dealer in Ontario. You may be confusing OMVIC to be an “association”, which we are not. We are a delegated administrative authority responsible for enforcing the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act. In doing so our role is to license dealers, monitor conduct, and protect consumers.
I must remind you of your professionalism obligations under the Code of ethics regulations which states:
Professionalism
9. (1) In carrying on business, a registrant shall not engage in any act or omission that, having regard to all of the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded as disgraceful, dishonourable, unprofessional or unbecoming of a registrant. O. Reg. 332/08, s. 9 (1).
If you have any new information regarding your complaint that you wish to share, please provide it to the Industry Standards and Conduct team. If you feel that the team misunderstood what took place, then please clarify that with them.
Any further correspondence from you similar to your email directly below may be considered as a breach of your professionalism obligations.
We have informed OMVIC’s CEO Maureen Harquail and the Ministry that legitimate criticism of OMVIC by a dealer, with no threats or intimidation, is not a violation of “professionalism”.
The UCDA will defend its members’ right to freedom of speech and opinion and will not stand for this kind of regulatory bullying.
How ironic is it that OMVIC accuses the dealer of a breach of professionalism when it is apparent to us, that OMVIC are the ones intimidating and threatening the dealer!
Please let us know anytime you feel you are being treated in a similar fashion by OMVIC.
