$5.2B class action lawsuit launched against Fiat Chrysler in Canada

Regina lawyer Tony Merchants' firm has launched a class action lawsuit for $5.2 billion against Fiat Chrysler.

Earlier this week, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration fined the auto maker a record $105 million for poorly executing 23 vehicle safety recalls covering more than 11 million defective vehicles over several years.

As part of that deal, Fiat Chrysler has been ordered to fix or buy back 500,000 Ram pickup trucks and 1.5 million Jeeps that that might be vulnerable in rear-end collisions.

However, Merchant said that fine and recall doesn't affect vehicles in Canada.

"The Canadian government once again is not on top of protecting consumers and Canadian car owners face the risk of Americans being protected both in terms of safety and financial loss, while on this side of the border, driving exactly the same vehicle, no protection arises," Merchant said in a news release.

Consumer protection stronger in U.S.: advocacy group

Ken Whitehurst, the executive director for Consumers Council of Canada, said Canadians often assume consumer protections are stronger here than in the more business-friendly U.S. in many areas, including vehicle safety, but the opposite is true.

"Transport Canada doesn't have the powers to act forcefully the way we see in the United States," he said.

"Canada depends quite a lot on companies for reciprocal action when it comes to recalls."

Whitehurst said in the past, Canadian companies have mostly played by the rules and maintained a culture of responsibility, but the multinational corporations that play an increasingly important role in the Canadian economy are indifferent.

A national class action has been issued regarding Chrysler Fiat from the Merchant Law Group Montreal office. The firm will be issuing claims tomorrow in Ontario and B.C. and in Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia on Friday.

There are 25 categories of vehicles listed in the statement of claim, which contains allegations which have not been proven in court.