Toyota Canada target of federal probe

The federal Transport Department is investigating Toyota Canada's handling of consumer concerns about the safety of its vehicles.

Transport Minister John Baird said he has already raised the issue with his officials, although he points out he cannot direct the department to conduct a criminal probe.

The review would be based on Section 10 of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, which deals with whether auto defects were properly reported and dealt with.

Baird said the government would also look into stiffening the law on how automakers handle notification of problems.

Earlier, several Toyota executives appeared at a Commons committee hearing in Ottawa to answer questions about recent recalls.

Toyota has recalled about 8.5 million vehicles worldwide since last fall because of acceleration problems in multiple models and braking issues in the Prius.

MPs questioned Stephen Beatty, managing director of Toyota Canada Inc., about sticky accelerators and safety concerns.

Bloc Québécois MP Mario Laframboise expressed concern over the secretive way he felt Toyota dealt with the expanding crisis.

"You took too much time to find out what the problem was and also too much time to talk to people about it," he told Beatty in French.

Beatty said the company has acted as swiftly as possible at every level, from issuing recall notices to repairing vehicles.

"There's no intention to hold back from regulators," he said. "Any info Transport Canada has ever asked for, we've given to them."

Toyota began hearing a handful of complaints about the accelerating system on Toyota cars in October 2009, Beatty told lawmakers. Soon after, Toyota began discussions about gas pedals with its suppliers, but the company didn't notify Transport Canada until Jan. 21, when it issued a recall notice.

Regret expressed

Yoshi Inaba, president and chief operating officer of Toyota North America, also appeared before the standing committee on transportation, infrastructure and communities. The company had originally said Inaba wasn't relevant to the Canadian hearings, but it reversed that decision.

Inaba recently appeared before a U.S. congressional committee to discuss quality concerns, alongside Akio Toyoda, CEO of Toyota Motor Corp. In response to a question from Windsor-area MP Brian Masse suggesting Toyoda quickly appeared before U.S. legislators but failed to apologize publicly to others, Inaba again defended the company.

"The message Mr. Toyoda wanted to deliver was not only to American drivers. His apology goes everywhere," Inaba said.

"We regret that this has caused our customers both anxiety and inconvenience," Toyota Canada Inc. president Yoichi Tomihara said in a statement before questioning began.

Liberal MP Joe Volpe, vice-chair of the committee, said a key question is whether Toyota Canada responded to complaints about sticky accelerators quickly enough.

"We’re going to be looking at the relationship between Toyota and transportation officials and the Minister of Transport, on whether they had the interest of Canadians at heart when they were applying the law," Volpe said.

Tuesday’s testimony comes after a California man claimed that his Prius sped out of control on a freeway last week. Toyota tested the vehicle after the incident and released preliminary findings Monday.

After testing the vehicle, Toyota said the accelerator pedal was found to be working normally and a backup safety system also worked properly.

"It does not appear to be feasibly possible, both electronically and mechanically, that his gas pedal was stuck to the floor and he was slamming on the brake at the same time," a memo prepared for Congress by a Toyota official said.

Toyota said it found severe wear and damage on the front brakes from overheating, but it noted that the rear brakes and parking brake were in good condition.

Toyota owners have complained of their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration of Toyota vehicles since 2000.

Industry Minister Tony Clement praised Toyota for co-operating with the government and with Transport Canada.

"They’ve got a relationship, obviously, where Transport Canada has to do the oversight — they have to obviously do their job — but at the same time we try to get these things sorted out as quickly as possible and as efficiently as possible. I expect that to continue."