Poilievre's high-profile rural Alberta byelection puts the 'right to repair' in the spotlight

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s bid for a seat in Battle River—Crowfoot is shining a light on the growing fight among rural and remote Canadians for the right to fix the things they own.

With tractors and other specialized farm equipment increasingly reliant on proprietary software, manufacturers are using a variety of digital methods to lock out third-party repairs — effectively requiring farms and other businesses to deal exclusively with manufacturer-authorized service providers.

It’s a problem that’s bedevilling area farmers who are already reckoning with razor-thin profit margins.

“I can tell you it’s no fun ringing the manufacturer for after-hours service, and having them charge you $50 to $100 a pop for a call-out fee,” said Rick Strankman, a grain farmer who lives in the eastern part of the riding.

Strankman’s family-run farm is two hours away from the nearest service hub in Lloydminster, Alta.

He says that he’s sought to minimize his dependence on costly manufacturer servicing by using older, analog equipment but doesn’t know how much longer he can keep this up.

“Our combines are 2011 model year and will be 15 years old come Christmas-time … the simple depreciation on those things is more than the farm can bear,” said Strankman.

Battle River—Crowfoot, a sprawling riding of more than 52,000 square kilometres , is home to some 4,000 farms like Strankman’s.

Far flung, agrarian areas like Battle River—Crowfoot are at the forefront of the growing right to repair movement , which calls for an end to manufacturer-imposed barriers to fixing consumer appliances, such as digital locks that keep third-parties out of embedded software.

“Pretty much anyone you meet in the rural parts of the riding will talk your ear off about (right to repair),” said Libertarian candidate Michael Harris.

Harris said that several farmers he’s canvassed have identified the right to repair as their top byelection issue.

Independent candidate Bonnie Critchley says she’ll make fighting for right to repair legislation her top priority if elected .

“As an Independent in such a tight minority government, I intend on using that position to push for a private member’s bill that limits how much corporations can continue to squeeze money out of us, after we’ve already purchased their product,” wrote Critchley in a recent blog post.

Critchley called a pair of federal right to repair laws enacted last year “complicated, bureaucratic, and ultimately toothless” in an email to the National Post.

“(T)hese bills make circumventing digital locks in devices legal, but continue to prohibit the manufacture, import, or sale of the tools used to circumvent those protection measures, making repairing personal property — be it a modern combine or a cellphone — infeasible in practice,” wrote Critchley.

Green Party candidate Ashley MacDonald also said that the right to repair was high on his list of priorities.

“(I) feel strongly that when you purchase a much-needed piece of equipment, whether it be a tractor for your farm, a dishwasher for your home, or a register for your small business, you should not be beholden to the high cost to repair forced upon you by the manufacturer through their monopoly on replacement parts, manuals, and control over software updates,” wrote MacDonald in an email.

“As (a) member of Parliament, I will work across the aisle to ensure that your right to repair is respected and brought into law.”

Poilievre’s campaign didn’t respond to multiple questions about whether he’d back new right to repair legislation if elected in the Aug. 18 byelection.

Alissa Centivany, a co-founder of the Canadian Repair Coalition, said that championing the right to repair would be a “no-brainer” for Poilievre if he wins the byelection.

“It’s an easy win that clearly benefits people in rural Alberta and other remote parts of the country,” said Centivany.

National Post

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