Canadians should not expect the federal government to collect any cash from Volkswagen as a penalty for lying about emissions levels.
In late June, the United States government announced a US$15.3-billion civil settlement with the German automaker that included US$2.7 billion for the public sector to spend on environmental mitigation efforts. Several diesel-powered VW models had so-called “defeat devices” installed, allowing millions of cars to pass emissions tests despite emitting certain toxic chemicals at levels more than 40 times higher than regulations allow.
Roughly 100,000 Canadian VW cars are affected by the issue and the company told BNN earlier this week it would take months longer than initially expected to settle various class action lawsuits brought against Volkswagen by Canadian drivers. Environment and Climate Change Canada, which launched a criminal investigation of the company in September 2015, told BNN Friday it cannot seek a settlement similar to what was achieved south of the border.
“The resolution of civil claims [against Volkswagen] brought by the United States’ Department of Justice, the State of California, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and private plaintiffs… There is no such mechanism available to [Environment and Climate Change Canada] under Canadian law,” the department said via email.
Ottawa refused to provide any details on its nearly year-long investigation, arguing because the probe was still ongoing any disclosure “could jeopardize the integrity of the investigation.”
Another federal government department – Natural Resources Canada – is continuing to actively promote several of the heavily-polluting VW models as being environmentally friendly. The department stood by its support of the vehicles in response to questions from BNN, noting it was based on a different measure of pollution.
The site “contains information related to fuel consumption and CO2 emissions obtained through laboratory testing,” Natural Resources Canada explained via email Wednesday. “The false claims to which Volkswagen has admitted relate to smog-forming air pollutant emissions.”
The endorsement stands in stark contrast to other jurisdictions such as South Korea, which last week outright banned the sale of almost all Volkswagen models in the country.
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