Dear CIAA Members

Harold's Auto Service is proud today to be mailing our cheque No. 16238 for $65.75 to the CIAA. This amount represents the pledge and challenge that we made at the 2008 convention for an additional $0.25/invoice/August 2008 levy over and above the CIAA $75 monthly membership.

Harold's Auto feels it is imperative that the membership of the CIAA helps to finance the Right to Repair battle with government and big business in Canada. We are proud of the inroads that have already been made by the CIAA in this regard and feel that more financial assets are necessary to help the CIAA fight more effectively to protect OUR rights as small business owners.

While we as small business owners may or may not be deeply effected by the Right to Repair issue YET, it will continue to grow in importance in our daily operations, and cannot fail to have an increasingly detrimental effect on our collective financial bottom line and the level of "service" that we choose to provide to all our valued clients.

A commitment of twenty five cents per invoice monthly proves to be an inconsequential amount to pay for a battle that our industry MUST win in Canada. It is all well and fine to voice our verbal support for the Right to Repair battle at convention time, but it's time to put our money where our mouths are. If we continue to allow big business to control our future, we will have no one to blame but ourselves.

PLEASE take time to reassess your finances and the depth of your commitment to the Right to Repair battle. It's time to spend a Quarter to SAVE ourselves many future dollars.

Thank you

Brian and Beverly Kaltenbruner
Harold's Auto Service
Lethbridge, Alberta
1-866-229-4664
haroldsauto@telus.net

REPLY 

I had the pleasure of taking part in the CIAA's annual
general meeting yesterday, What a great day, we heard from a
series of speakers, Dave Meunier, Bob Greenwood, Murray
Voth, Art Wilderman. These guys know the industry and the
changes we are facing within it, not only do they know them
they are passionate about embracing them. Having these guys
on the forefront within an organization such as the CIAA is
very exciting. They have the connections, they have the
ambition and they truly care about us "shop owners". They
are currently lobbying government trying to come to some
sort of agreement with the auto makers, be it voluntary or
legislation. From what it sounds like they have made some
recent positive progress (lobbying government is NOT easy
and it takes copious amounts of time and patience) We should
all be aware of the right to repair by now, and if you are
not you should take some time to see what it is all about.
There is no way as individuals the government would listen
or react to our issues (have you ever tried to get an
appointment with a member of parliament?) it is next to
impossible. So what do we have... We have a group of people
who saw the need and understood how things needed to change.
Out of sheer passion for the independent sector of the
automotive industry they formed the CIAA. What can we
expect? We can expect that these people whom I have only
touched the surface on will stand up for the independents in
whatever the issues are, currently it is the right to repair
so that’s what they are fighting for. Did I mention that they
do this at NO profit, in fact as I understand it there is
only ONE person on payroll the rest of them are purely
volunteering there time, if you know Dave or Bob their time
is very precious. What we need to do as Canadian independent
shop owners is ask ourselves who will stand up for our
needs? Who can we call if there are issues within the our
sector that need attention. We can rely on the Canadian
Independent Automotive Association... Bottom line.

I will be completely honest with you, when I first joined I
often wondered what is in it for me? what can they do for
me? the answer I was looking for I found buy attending
meetings and contacting Art Wilderman personally whether it
was through phone calls or e-mail, and just talking with him
about the current issues. It didn't take long before I
realized that he was always available to talk and he was
constantly following up with any progress. I also realized
that the question was not "what can they do for me" The
question I needed to ask myself was "what can I do for
myself" or rather what can WE do for our sector... The
answer is simple. We have before us a group of people
(CIAA)as mentioned earlier who are as passionate (if not
more passionate) about the independent sector as we are.
Myself as an independent shop owner, I had a realization
early on in business that we as independent shops are not
competitors against one another, rather we are allies. The
CIAA has helped me realize this.

We owe it to ourselves to support this association by
becoming a member and keeping up with current issues,
attending meetings and providing our voice in Canada KEEP IN
MIND THAT THE CANADIAN INDEPENDANT AUTOMOTIVE ASSOCIATION IS
FOR ALL OF CANADA, NOT JUST THE WESTERN PROVINCES. Currently
I believe that there are only a hand full (14) members in
Ontario. Step up to the plate and support The CIAA...

REPLY