With out Drive Clean the…

With out Drive Clean the oldest family owned aftermarket garage in North America would cease to remain!!!

While other family owned business claim to be older than ours on the internet, we all claim our ancestors started this industry as black smiths working on coach and horse drawn buggies. Unlike our family owned business from 1890, all the others have evolved into the dealership sector of the automotive industry removing them selves from the service bays.

In 1997 I began preparing for Drive Clean and adding this service to my fathers business in 2001. In 2007 because of Drive Clean I was able to get funding to take over all other facets of my father business. This allowed me to upgrade equipment, training and a much needed addition to our previous building. Drive Clean forced my self and my technicians to train and stay current with today's ever changing modern technologies. Without Drive Clean, our business would be closed today and I would have moved on to work for the railway, TTC or some factory that would probably have closed its doors by now.

The Environmental Protection Agency states that the vehicles today have better emissions than 19 years ago when Drive Clean was first implemented. It also states that Drive Clean has done its job cleaning up the environment largely due to the advancement of modern day automobile emission systems. Correct on all accounts, BUT the reason why the air we breath is better today is because people were forced to Maintain, Repair and Retire their gross emitting vehicles. With no policing of vehicle emission systems, people will cease to maintain. repair and retire these newer highly advanced vehicles when they age.

Ending the Drive Clean program without implementing some other kind of program like by-annual safety inspections, will not only affect Drive Clean Repair Facilities, but will be devastating to the entire automotive repair sector for both aftermarket and dealership sectors. This will affect the economy and the environment dramatically.

Good job Mr. Ford. I'm all in favour for draining the swamp but a buck a beer and eliminating automotive repairs. These actions sound personal and not beneficial to the general public, the economy or the environment. Where is Mike Harris when we need him most.