“Net-Zero Tyranny”

OTTAWA — The head of a national association representing the electric transportation industry says the federal government, and provinces with a zero-emission vehicle sales mandate, should make “short-term adjustments” to their programs at the risk of the policy going the way of the now-cancelled consumer carbon tax.

Electric Mobility Canada President Daniel Breton’s comments come as auto-makers and others in the industry express a fresh round of concerns about the Liberals’ sales mandate, which has set a target of reaching 100-per-cent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035, beginning with initial targets of hitting 60 per cent by 2030 and at least 20 per cent by 2026.

OTTAWA — As Canada approaches a critical starting point for its electric vehicle goals, pressure is building on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to rethink its plan.

Starting next year, the Liberal plan to get more electric vehicles on the road will enter its first phase: mandating sales targets for car companies, which could purchase credits, including by spending on charging infrastructure, or face penalties for not complying.

The federal government’s electric vehicle (EV) mandate — requiring that 20 per cent of all new vehicle sales in Canada be electric by 2026 — was designed with the best intentions. It was a bold climate policy that aligned with international commitments and aimed to reshape one of Canada’s most critical economic sectors.

But we’re now speeding into a very different corner of the track.

The Star went insane and published this!

“Under current rules, an automaker that falls short of the EV sales target must buy credits at $20,000 per non-compliant unit just to keep selling gas-powered vehicles in Canada. For a company selling 300,000 vehicles a year, falling 10 per cent short could trigger a $600 million penalty. That’s not environmental policy. That’s economic punishment.”

That’s crazy dictator stuff.

This week, the Carney Liberals announced they had no intention of changing the Trudeau government’s planned ban on gasoline-powered cars, trucks and vans beginning next year. Whether you want an EV, you’ll be forced to buy one if you buy any new vehicle by 2035.

This past Tuesday, the Conservative Party put forward a motion in parliament calling on the Liberal government to immediately end their ban on gas-and-diesel driven Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles, which will take full effect in 2035.

Arguing for the motion, Melissa Lantsman rightly said, “Nobody is denying people the choice to drive an electric car. There is nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is the government mandating that everybody drive an electric car.”

Unfortunately for all of us, MPs voted 194-141 to keep the EV mandate in place.

Bob Pulham recalls the optimism in the air when General Motors began producing electric vans in Ingersoll, Ont., in late 2022.

As the first BrightDrop commercial van rolled off the line at the CAMI Assembly plant, GM executives, union leaders and former prime minister Justin Trudeau touted it as a major milestone for electric vehicle production in Canada.

Pulham, a Unifor representative at the plant, remembers talk of increasing shifts and hiring more people to produce 50,000 such delivery vans annually by 2025.

OTTAWA — While Canada prepares to launch a decade-long ban on the sale of new gas-powered vehicles next year, the Conservatives are accusing the PM of having more on his mind than climate change.

During question period on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer accused Prime Minister Mark Carney of thinking more about the bottom line of his former employer in allowing his government to go ahead with the contentious Justin Trudeau-era policy.

Carney is a crook.

OTTAWA — Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin tells The Canadian Press the government will bring back a consumer rebate program to help make electric vehicles more affordable.

The federal government’s former rebate program for electric vehicles, launched in 2019, was so popular it ran out of funding, leading Ottawa to pause it earlier this year.