Lawyer’s demands stall disclosure of Volkswagen’s plea deal

Volkswagen AG will plead guilty to breaking Canada’s emissions laws in the global diesel emissions scandal that has already cost the German automaker more than US$30 billion, but disclosure of its proposed plea deal with the Canadian government was delayed Friday as an environmental lawyer argued the court should hear victim impact statements.

On Monday, Environment and Climate Change Canada laid 60 charges against Volkswagen related to importing 128,000 vehicles between 2008 and 2015 that were equipped with “defeat devices” to cheat emissions control systems, and subsequently providing misleading information about the vehicles.

“We are ready to plead guilty,” lawyer David Humphreys said in the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto on Friday. “It’s hard to picture more clear accountability than that.”

Volkswagen, which says it “co-operated fully” with the ECCC’S investigation, and the federal government has already negotiated a proposed plea resolution that’s expected to include fines. The parties conducted “extensive” negotiations over a lengthy period before Volkswagen was charged, public prosecutor Tom Lemon told reporters outside court.

It’s not common for such negotiations to take place before charges, but Lemon said it has happened before in complicated regulatory cases.

Indeed, the environmental group Ecojustice described it as the “largest environmental crime in Canada’s history” as it petitioned the court for standing in the case. Ecojustice lawyer Amir Attaran argued for victim impact statements to be heard before Volkswagen is sentenced. “The victims are many . ... Everyone was exposed to dangerous levels of toxic pollution when they were near those VW cars,” Attaran said.

He noted the charges were just laid on Monday and there could have already been a resolution by Friday if Ecojustice hadn’t intervened. He accused the government and the automaker of rushing the process.

Financial Post