Last fall, it became clear that the electric vehicle (EV) mandate first introduced by the Liberals in 2022 was a ridiculous policy that was going to fail. The mandate was supposed to force Canadians to buy electric vehicles by requiring that auto dealers sell a certain percentage of EVs. The first requirement in the original policy was that 20 per cent of new vehicles were to be EVs in 2026, culminating in the legally binding target for EV sales of 100 per cent in 2035. The policy was introduced by then-environment minister Steven Guilbeault, who as a self-declared socialist had no qualms about laws that forced citizens to make choices against their will.
Despite a number of incentive and subsidy programs in different provinces, consumers just weren’t convinced they wanted EVs. In fact, once subsidy programs were gone, EV demand plummeted in Canada. The same result was seen in other countries when subsidy programs ended. Despite all the hype promoted by the climate-obsessed Liberal government and some frankly dishonest claims made to make EVs more attractive, it seems most consumers couldn’t even be bribed to buy EVs.
The fact this policy was headed for failure with the first targets in 2026 going to be missed by a mile led the Carney government to alter its approach and “pause” the policy in the fall of 2025 to avoid embarrassment. However, the Liberals couldn’t bring themselves to do the right thing and scrap it completely. Instead, they announced a mixed bag of subsidies and quotas that may be just as bad as the original policy, if not worse.
The new policy, announced last week, is a combination of subsidies, emissions controls and sales targets. A total of $2.3 billion will be devoted to incentives of up to $5,000 for battery electric and fuel EVs, and up to $2,500 for plug-in hybrids. These rebates will only be available if the purchase price of the auto is less than $50,000 and the producing country has a free trade agreement with Canada. This means the Chinese EVs soon to enter Canada will not be eligible. As well, rebates on these vehicles will, as with past rebates programs, subsidize more affluent buyers at the cost of lower-income taxpayers. Not a great plan for a Liberal government that claims to care about equity.
The new policy will also include a new greenhouse gas emission standard for model years 2027-2032. By 2035, the goal is to have EVs represent 75 per cent of total sales and 90 per cent by 2040. So the target percentages have been reduced a bit and the dates extended some, but the original plan is not really that much changed. It will take a longer time to see if this is at all realistic, however, so it gives the government more room to manoeuvre. The current government won’t be in office once those dates have been reached, and goals not attained will be someone else’s embarrassment.
It is typical that all climate-related policies are announced with a timeline stretching into the future, and often very far into the future, in an attempt to pretend the goals outlined can actually be achieved. For example, the whole net zero emissions objective that Carney still claims to believe in, is supposed to be realized by 2050. This is far enough away that no one can claim with confidence what will be happening by that year.
It may well be that EV technology will have advanced so much in the next decade or two that many of the drawbacks about today’s EVs will be eliminated. It is also clear that our current electricity infrastructure is nowhere near able to handle a majority of Canadians driving EVs. There will be a huge cost to upgrading our electrical grid to handle many more EVs, not to mention things like data centres and the planned “electrification” of other industries that currently rely on fossil fuels to generate electricity. The estimates for such a grid upgrade run into the trillions of dollars and will not happen quickly or easily. It seems the Liberals who were so keen on forcing EVs on Canadians didn’t plan very well for all of the related costs and major infrastructure projects needed.
All of the apocalyptic climate predictions made years ago about things such as shrinking polar ice, rising sea levels, disappearing polar bear populations, submerged islands and the like have not happened by the predicted date. In fact, they have not happened at all, just like the foolish EV targets. Instead of wasting even more taxpayer dollars, governments should adopt an approach of dealing with what actually happens, trusting free markets to determine supply and demand of various products – not predictions made by ideologues and zealots.
She has published numerous articles in journals, magazines & other media on issues such as free trade, finance, entrepreneurship & women business owners. Ms. Swift is a past President of the Empire Club of Canada, a former Director of the CD Howe Institute, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, SOS Children’s Villages, past President of the International Small Business Congress and current Director of the Fraser Institute. She was cited in 2003 & 2012 as one of the most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network & is a recipient of the Queen’s Silver & Gold Jubilee medals.
