Alberta Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz is calling on the federal government to drop its electric vehicle sales mandate before it takes effect next year.
“The federal government must face the inevitable and abandon the unrealistic, ineffective and unwanted EV mandate before it kicks in next year,” Schulz said in an Aug. 15 statement. “This is another failed Trudeau policy, just like the carbon tax, which hurt Canadians from coast to coast.”
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The mandate requires 20 per cent of new cars sold in Canada to be zero-emission in 2026, reaching 100 per cent by 2035.
“Requiring 20 per cent of new cars sold in Canada to be zero-emission next year and 100 per cent by 2035 is not realistic or possible,” said Schulz. “Albertans could purchase every single EV produced in this country and we still would not be close to meeting this unrealistic plan.”
She also pointed to Ottawa’s 100 per cent tariff on electric vehicles from China, which produces 70 per cent of the global supply. Schulz said the tariffs “have a devastating impact on hard-working Albertan farmers, ranchers and food processors, who are caught up in political posturing they want no part in.”
Schulz said major automakers and 48 Ontario mayors have urged Ottawa to drop the policy, along with 71 per cent of Canadians surveyed in a new Leger poll.
“For a decade, the Trudeau government ignored the wishes of Canadians and pursued unrealistic and ideological policies like this,” said Schulz. “Ottawa needs to listen to Albertans, Canadians and industry experts across the country and scrap the ridiculous EV mandate before it drives Canada off the road.”
The federal government has not yet responded.
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