Letter to your MP

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As per a discussion about what we can do to help people in Quebec I agreed to look at coming up with a letter that people can send to their Member of Parliament. I started by searching the site for previous letters, however I found that most of those were regarding previous issues that don't seem to be as relevant right at the moment. So in this thread I will post my letter to my MP, hopefully this will give you all ideas of what you can write to your own MP.

A few tips.
1) Feel free to use my letter (replacing the highlighted bits with your own information) however please realize that if you can write your own, it's always better than a "form letter".
2) Please take the time to print it off and put it in an envelope, written letters still seem to mean more to them then electronic ones, and postage to the house of commons is FREE!
3) email it (yes I know I said above that you shouldn't, but I don't think it would hurt to send it both methods)
4) if you write your own note, be polite! as much as we may disagree with a specific politician, or the entire group of them, they don't respond well to insults.
5) if you don't know who your MP is, you can look them up here

January 29, 2010

The Honourable {My member of parliament}
House of Commons
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

Dear {Mr/Ms (or for cabinet ministers, the title is Minister) MPs name},

I am a constituent of your riding in {My riding name} and am writing you in regard to an issue that affects Canadian's ability to move or travel freely between provinces.

Currently every province in the country creates their own laws affecting what vehicles are allowed on the road in their province, every province has different standards for this, and vehicles that are legal in one province may be prohibited in other provinces. Even vehicles sold brand new at dealerships in Canada and meeting all Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards may not pass Out Of Province (OOP) inspections in the province that they are sold in, or may be prohibited from operating in some provinces.

Several examples:
- Low Speed Electric Vehicles that comply with federal standards are allowed in BC and Quebec, however other provinces have prohibited their use, or added severe restrictions.
- Vehicles with headlights approved by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) standards, although approved at the federal level (CMVSS section 108.1), and included on many vehicles sold new in every province in the country, are not permitted in the OOP inspection manuals in many provinces including Alberta, and BC.
- Right hand drive vehicles, although meeting all federal regulations, and although they are sold brand new in North America by all of the "big 3" manufacturers, are not permitted to be registered for on-road use in Quebec until they turn 25 years old.
- Window tinting rules vary from one province to the other varying from Quebec allowing any tint on the rear and rear side windows and 70% tint on the front side windows, to Nova Scotia not allowing window tint at all, and other provinces somewhere in between
- Alberta allows 3 vehicle trailer combinations (eg. pickup truck + fifth wheel + boat trailer) whereas BC prohibits those same vehicles.

In addition to causing problems for people who are moving permanently from one province to another, there have been several cases of people who have a vehicle that is fully legal in their home province, driving in to a neighbouring province for a vacation only to be pulled over and hassled by the local police, ticketed, and issued an notice of inspection for their vehicle, beause their vehicle doesn't meet the requirements of the province they drove in to.

I believe strongly that it is time for the federal government to step in and insist that all the provinces follow the same guidelines. To protect our right to move and travel freely accross Canada all of the provinces should allow all vehicles meeting Canadian federal requirements to operate freely on their roadways.

Thank you very much for your time.


Sincerely,

{my full name, and home address}

You may note that I have not directly mentioned imported vehicles, this was intentional, the point here is that we are no different from anyone else, the important part is in standardizing across the country and making the provinces follow the federal rules.