Ottawa, Ontario — Canadian vehicle manufacturers and auto dealers met yesterday on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to formally call for the end of federal electric vehicle sales mandates previously brought into effect by the government in 2023.
According to a recent press release, this call for action to end the mandates comes in the wake of the federal government ending electric vehicle incentives under the federal iZEV program, alongside continued insecurities over developing charging infrastructure.
Attendees on Parliament Hill further highlighted the federal government’s failure to secure adequate funding for the transition to electrified transportation that was previously actively promoted by Canadian officials.
Brian Kingston, president and CEO of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association commented in the official release that “yesterday’s announcement by the federal government to halt all consumer incentives for zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) comes at the same time as a slowdown in the buildout of public charging infrastructure. As a result of these developments, the federal government’s mandated ZEV sales targets are increasingly unrealistic and must end.”
“Mandating Canadians to buy ZEVs without providing them the support needed to switch to electric is a made-in-Canada policy failure,” added Kingston.
“The Liberal federal government has backed away from supporting the transition to electric vehicles and now we are left with a completely unrealistic plan at the federal level,” added Tim Reuss, president and CEO of the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association. “There is hypocrisy in imposing ambitious ZEV mandates and penalties on consumers when the government is showing a clear lack of motivation and support for their own policy goals.”
David Adams, president and CEO of Global Automakers of Canada concluded that “while incentives are not required forever, they do need to remain in place until at least price parity has largely been achieved, otherwise the largest barrier to EV adoption – price, will continue to hinder widespread adoption and put the government’s ZEV mandate targets increasingly at risk.”
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