During one of their Friday meetings, the OLIP interns had the opportunity to have a conversation with representatives from the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council, or OMVIC, for short. Buying a car can often be a stressful experience, filled with a lot of uncertainty about the vehicle itself and the reputation of the seller. Thankfully, John Carmichael, Maureen Harquail, and Julie Hiroz, the CEO, COO and Communications Officer of OMVIC respectively, explained how part of their job was to take some of that anxiety out of the vehicle purchasing process.
The interns learned about the relationship that OMVIC has between consumers, government and motor vehicle dealerships. This included a crash course in understanding the role the organization plays as a consumer protection agency and watchdog against unsavoury business practices. Even though the pandemic has shifted a lot of life’s experiences into the home, motor vehicle transportation is still ubiquitous across Canada for business and work. It was reassuring to hear the representatives from OMVIC talk about how seriously they took their role in ensuring that vehicles sold by dealerships in the province of Ontario were subject to consistent oversight.
While the old stereotype of the sleazy used car salesman can creep into people’s minds when they go to purchase a vehicle, based on the conversation the interns had with their representatives, OMVIC seems to be trying its best to raise the caliber of the vehicle sales industry to dispel that association. Thank you, OMVIC, for a wonderful meeting!