Poilievre says he’ll scrap zero-emission EV mandate
Hey there, I’m Peter Zimonjic, a senior writer here in the CBC Parliamentary Bureau.
Today, Poilievre said he’d scrap the electric vehicle mandate requiring 20 per cent of light duty vehicle sales in Canada to be zero-emission by 2026, 60 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035.
The Conservative leader specifically took issue with the compliance measures around the deadlines in the mandate, saying companies will be hit with a $20,000 tax for every EV they are short on the sales targets.
In reality there isn’t a “tax” applied to automakers for failing to hit sales targets, but there are compliance benchmarks. Here’s how it works:
A company that doesn’t make enough EVs is in a deficit position. To get out of that deficit, they can buy an EV credit from another automaker or they can make a financial investment in charging station infrastructure. For every $20,000 they invest they get one credit, and one credit equals one EV.
That charging station investment credit is where the Conservatives’ idea of a “tax” comes from.
The industry is saying that the mandate deadline is impossible to meet so they will be in a deficit and that only gives them a few options: make charging station investments, buy credits, or reduce the number of gas-powered vehicles they sell in a year until they hit the mandate target.
If a company decides to ignore the mandate, which is law, they can face court action, injunctions or even prosecution.
