Spring reminds me of the rituals of farming that were customary as I was growing up on the prairies.

Among these were making sure that farm machinery was maintained, and repaired if necessary, to ensure that spring seeding occurred on time and without delay – at least as much as possible. And the other memory related to farm machinery was that there were always breakdowns at the most inopportune of times.

Despite best efforts there was often a need to repair equipment during seeding or harvest. That was the way it was. Often someone from the family was dispatched to a nearby farm equipment dealer or garage to purchase a part so that a seeder, tractor, or discer could be repaired on the farm. There was always a variety of brands of farm equipment to work with, and parts seemed to be readily available, though at times they needed to be ordered in from a nearby town.

Those are bygone days. Fast forward to these days. The big issue, and one that rural and urban dwellers have in common, is the right to repair whatever happens to have broken down.  For farmers, it is the farm equipment crucial to the production of food. For urbanites and others, it might be medical equipment such as wheelchairs or even retinal implants, or computer equipment, along with the ubiquitous iPhone. These days the repair of equipment and digital devices is largely controlled by access to digital locks. Without the code for the lock, no one but the manufacturer can do the repair.

The Right to Repair Movement is growing across Canada and globally as individuals and communities recognize the harm that proprietary practices by manufacturers are having on just about everything.

For years many have pushed for changes to legislation to allow for the right to repair.

In November of 2024 two pieces of federal legislation were given Royal Assent – Bills C-244 and C-294 – which deal with exemptions within copyright legislation to allow for the repair of devices. These two laws have been heralded by many as an important step forward. And while they are a step in the right direction, there is still a long, long way to go to actually apply the right to repair in this country. While these bills allow the circumvention of digital software locks to allow for the repair of devices, the exception only applies to individuals and not to third........

© rabble