It’s time to take back the right to repair our own devices. Too many of us are choosing to replace our devices instead of fixing them, as simple repairs are becoming extraordinarily expensive. Replacement parts for a weak battery, a misplaced power cable, or a broken keyboard are becoming so prohibitively expensive that it’s just easier to buy something new.

In fact, a recent opinion poll by Innovative Research Group found that 76 per cent of people in Canada have had to throw away electronic devices due to problems like cracked screens, weak batteries or a keyboard malfunction.

The same poll also found that 75 per cent of respondents would support laws that would require manufacturers to release repair information and make parts, tools and diagnostics available at reasonable prices. In other words, people want the Right to Repair.

But do we really need legislation just to fix a broken screen?

In short, yes. As many people have found out the hard way, manufacturers are doing everything in their power to make it nearly impossible to fix the devices we already own.

They do this by limiting the sale of spare parts, using restrictive design features to make it difficult to access the hardware, applying digital locks to make it difficult (and potentially illegal) to access the diagnostics, or by placing warranty restrictions to prevent you from repairing your devices through anyone other than the original manufacturer.

This results in manufacturers and authorized dealers having a virtual monopoly over the repair services of many products, often making it prohibitively expensive to make repairs that many of us could actually do ourselves.

And, in short, people in Canada are tired of this business model.

Regardless of age, gender, geography or political affiliation, people in Canada support the Right to Repair. The poll showed that 79 per cent of Liberals, 76 per cent of New Democrats and 67 per cent of Conservatives all support this legislation, making it one of the few issues easily uniting people across the political spectrum.

And let’s be clear, this is an issue not only affecting owners of iPhones, Microsoft Surface tablets or Samsung smart watches. This practice is destroying tens of thousands of jobs in the independent repair industry, reducing access to repair services in rural communities, increasing the cost of equipment for small businesses, and hurting Canada’s hard-working farmers.

The passing of Right to Repair legislation in Canada would be a huge victory for everyone, farmers, rural communities, independent repair shops, tinkerers, aspiring engineers and even the environment. Because the costs of our disposable device culture is not just our income, but also the e-waste we’re producing with products that are incredibly difficult to recycle.

The idea of a right to repair is not new. It already exists in the auto industry, and is the reason you are still able to take your Ford F-150 to any mechanic across the country, from Grand Falls, N.L., to Prince Rupert, B.C., and get it fixed.

Thanks to a 2009 agreement, car manufacturers agreed to make diagnostics and parts available to anyone. Without this agreement, the price of car maintenance would skyrocket and leave many rural communities without access to mechanics with the parts and tools to repair your vehicle.

But we need to extend this beyond just cars to our digital world. And on this, Canada is behind the charge. Twenty U.S. states have already introduced or debated Right to Repair bills, and the European Union has legislated repairable design standards for appliances that will come into force in 2021.

As political parties build their platforms for the upcoming federal election, they should be looking to support our Right to Repair. It appeals to voters across the political, geographic and economic spectrum.

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At a time when our politics are becoming increasingly divisive and polarized, the Right to Repair stands out as an issue that still enjoys the support of the vast majority of voters (with the possible exception of executives at Apple and John Deere).

And more importantly – it’s good policy.