Whereas, according to Section 75 of the Highway Traffic Act (HTA), every motor vehicle shall be equipped with a muffler in good working order and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise and excessive smoke and no person shall use a muffler cut-out, straight exhaust, gutted muffler, Hollywood muffler, by-pass or similar device upon a motor vehicle;
Whereas, the act of modifying the exhaust system of a motor vehicle is not currently an offence under the HTA and as a result, muffler and auto-body shops continue to provide such services which allows individuals to modify cars that lead to unsafe vehicles;
Whereas, Peel Regional Police have been actively laying charges pursuant to Section 75 of the HTA against motor vehicle operators whose vehicles make excessive or unusual noise or produce excessive smoke from the muffler systems that have been modified;
Whereas, on October 28, 2019 the Province of Ontario introduced Bill 132, Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2019 which in part sought to amend the HTA to include a new section, 75.1, that will make it an offence to tamper with motor vehicles by (a) removing, bypassing, defeating or rendering inoperative all or part of a motor vehicle’s emission control system or (b) modifying a motor or vehicle in any way that results in increased emissions from the level to which it was originally designed or certified by the manufacturer of the motor or vehicle;
Whereas, Section 75.1 of the HTA will also prohibit the sale of tampering devices that can create excessive noise or smoke on our streets and in our neighbourhoods;
Whereas, on December 10, 2019, Bill 132 received royal assent, however the Lieutenant Governor has not yet proclaimed Section 75.1 of the HTA despite more than a year having passed since the bill received was passed and received royal assent;
Whereas, on May 5, 2021 the City of Mississauga passed Resolution 0095-2021 in regard to Provincial action against noisemakers.
Therefore be it resolved:
That in recognition of the continuous problem in Brampton and neighboring municipalities related to modified mufflers that can create excessive or unusual noise and excessive smoke, that Council make an urgent request to the Province of Ontario to have Section 75.1 of the Highway Traffic Act proclaimed and brought into force immediately; and
That a request for a measured decibel count to the Ministry of Transportation that exhaust systems will not be available for sale and will not be permitted in Ontario if they have the capability of exceeding 80 decibels; and
That Council request further amendments to the HTA related to permitted decibel counts for exhaust systems including stricter penalty provisions such as a fine with a minimum of $500.00 and a loss of three demerit points; and
That Council request the Province of Ontario provide funding to the Police Services in Ontario to be equipped with approved decibel monitor devices in order to enforce effectively and efficiently; and
That a copy of this motion be sent to all Brampton area Members of Provincial Parliament, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and Peel Regional Police, and the Insurance Bureau of Canada, for information.