OTTAWA — More calls are coming for the Trudeau Liberals to scrap their imperiled policy to mandate 100% EV car sales by 2035.
On Monday, Canadians for Affordable Energy joined the call made last week by Canada’s auto industry, noting the government’s decision earlier this month to cancel the Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) program, which offered federal subsides to those who purchased an all-electric vehicle.
“There’s a place for EVs and this is the diversity of options and choices given to consumers,” said Canadians for Affordable Energy CEO Dan McTeague, who worked in the automotive industry prior to his 18-year career as a Member of Parliament.
“Hybrids would be the future, but if you look at the mandates in Quebec, Ontario, Canada — hybrids can’t be part of that, and plugins can’t be part of that. This is insanity built on a willingness to ignore reality.”
Hybrids don’t fit the government’s definition of a zero-emission vehicle, so they would also be phased out under the 2035 rules.
McTeague said that Canada’s mandate now stands alone on the continent, with President Donald Trump planning day one measures to scrap Biden-era energy policies and an American EV mandate, which would require two-thirds of passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. to be zero-emission by 2032.
Canada’s policy calls on 20% EV for next year, increasing to a ban on internal combustion engines by 2035.
“That means the 80% or 90% of vehicles we would be producing — with substantial subsidies from federal and provincial governments — won’t have a market,” McTeague said.
“That should be a wake-up call to the Doug Ford government and obviously to the federal Liberals who know that they’ve made significant commitment to something that won’t be realized.”
McTeague said that this week’s frigid temperatures show how ineffective EVs can be in Canada for good portions of the year.
“I drove up to Acton to drop my daughter off at one of the schools she works at, and there wasn’t a single EV on the road — not with -20C winter weather, they’re not efficient,” McTeague said.
“Specific to the point, we’ve made a commitment without considering long-term implications. And in a country that is arguably colder, with the exception of Alaska, to the United States, it’s double-jeopardy for Canadians on days like today, we’re seeing the kinds of temperatures that make it impractical to drive those vehicles.”
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