Automotive News Canada - May 2017 - 26

* MAY 2017

B.C. race-discrimination case gets green light
By ERIC FREEDMAN
LEGAL CORRESPONDENT

A MITSUBISHI DEALERSHIP'S
former accountant of Indian descent
has received a green light to pursue
race and colour discrimination claims
before the British Columbia Human

Rights Tribunal.
Tribunal member Emily Ohler
refused to dismiss Joseph Antao's
case against Newtype Auto Group in
Richmond, B.C., and its dealer principal and general manager. The complaint alleges that the dealership,
most of whose employees are ethni-

TRANS-CANADA NEWS
CONTINUED FROM PA GE 3

tive and aerospace industries. It had been threatened
by a war of words between
Manitoba Premier Brian
Pallister and the federal government over healthcare
funding.
Money for the Factory of
the Future was announced
by then-Prime Minister
Stephen Harper in 2015
and confirmed under current Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau. It isn't expected to
open for at least two years.

Toronto dealership
tops 100,000 sales
DON VALLEY NORTH
Toyota (DVNT) became the
first Toyota store to reach

cally Chinese, discriminates against
non-Chinese employees and was racially motivated when it refused to change
Antao's status to employee from contractor, thereby excluding him from
meetings. He claims to have been fired
when he raised concerns.
The store denies discrimination and

Nissan was looking for a strategic
partner in communications

5,000 KILOMETRES
OF STORIES

100,000 new-vehicle sales.
DVNT is Toyota's highest volume dealership in
Canada.
Forty-four years after
opening its doors in the
north-east suburb of
Markham, DVNT closed out
April with a total of 100,032
new-vehicle deliveries.
A "special thank you to
our many customers and
associates past and present for helping us reach this
historic milestone," said
Seiji Ichii, president of Don
Valley North Toyota, one of
10 dealerships in the Weins
Canada group.

Pfaff group acquires
Markham BMW, Mini
MARKHAM, Ont. - Pfaff

argues that it terminated Antao for
economic reasons and insubordination.
The decision to let the case proceed
"doesn't mean there's any merit it to
it," said dealership lawyer J. Geoffrey
Howard of Vancouver. He said the
store has asked to reopen the case so it
can provide more evidence. - ANC

Automotive Partners has
acquired two suburban
Toronto dealerships, bringing the group's portfolio to
14.
Pfaff added Town and
Country BMW and Mini
Markham to its holdings,
which range from Toyota,
Mazda and Chrysler to
Porsche, McLaren and
Pagani, as well as HarleyDavidson motorcycles.
The two stores, with
200 employees, give Pfaff a
strong BMW presence east
and west of the Greater
Toronto Area, and expand
its portfolio of enthusiast-oriented brands to
include BMW i and Mini
lineups, Pfaff said in a news
release. - ANC

CONTINUED FROM PA GE 3

been established. David
Reuter, vice-president, global communications operations
for Nissan USA, said: "We
are in the process of working
through a transition plan and
will work with Cohn & Wolfe
to determine the conclusion of
their contract with Nissan."
The changeover will happen in
the coming months, he said.

SOUGHT GLOBAL PARTNER
The change is "a key building block" in the automaker's
ongoing global communications reorganization. Nissan
has been reorganizing and
modernizing its global communications practice for more
than a year, Reuter said, and
as part of this process "we
identified the need for a stra-

tegic partner to complement
the modernization of our communications function and support the growth strategy of our
company and our brands."
Several events in recent
months helped drive
Adeshak's desire to focus on
streamlining its communications stance: Carlos Ghosn
stepping away from the CEO
position, the alliance with
Mitsubishi and recent protests against the company
in Mississippi led by former
presidential candidate Bernie
Sanders.
Direction for the new
assignment will come from
Nissan headquarters in Japan,
supported by Edelman hubs in
key markets. Edelman, with
five offices in Canada, will
manage the business from its
Toronto location. - ANC

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - May 2017