“Net-Zero Tyranny”

As Ottawa embarks on a 60-day review of its electric vehicle (EV) mandate, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says the plan is not to get rid of the policy but rather to boost the production and importation of the vehicles.

“We want to build more EVs in Canada. We need to because we know that’s where basically the world is heading, and we want to make sure that we are able to compete with also Chinese EVs,” Joly said during a press conference in Montreal on Sept. 8.

Give her a bottle and she’ll say anything.

Those with an attentive ear may have picked up on the distinct sound of sobbing emanating from the Department of Canadian Identity and Culture. They are the sobs of its minister, erstwhile minister of environment and climate change, Stephen Guilbeault, watching the slow but certain immolation of Canada’s electric vehicle sales mandate, as it goes up in smoke. Friday, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that automakers would no longer need to have 20 per cent of their sales be zero emission vehicles, either fully electric or hybrid election, in 2026.

Prime Minister Mark Carney was right to kill his government’s mandate that 20% of all new car sales in Canada had to be zero emissions vehicles starting next year – current sales are less than half that – but that’s just the tip of the iceberg of the problem.

The bigger problem is that, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office, Canada’s federal and provincial governments – mainly Ontario and Quebec – have earmarked up to $52.5 billion to subsidize 13 major Electric Vehicle supply chain projects, 14% more than the $46.1 billion the EV industry in Canada is spending on itself.

Canada’s auto sector won a policy victory on Friday as Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a one-year pause on the federal electric vehicle mandate, which requires 20 per cent of all 2026 model year vehicles sold to be electric, but many in the industry are looking for even more changes.

The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association, a lobby group for three United States-based automakers with operations in Canada, said it will continue to push for a full repeal of the EV mandate. To that end, Carney also announced a 60-day review of the EV mandate.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is delaying a plan to force automakers to hit minimum sales levels for electric vehicles next year, according to sources knowledgeable of the plans.

The move comes as the industry has struggled under U.S. tariffs

Sources, who spoke on the condition they not be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the EV mandate will be put on pause as the government reviews the policy.

The 60-day review will look at the entire mandate and next steps, the sources said.

Not for a minute do I believe Carney has had a change of heart. He and his wife are ECO-Nazis, EV’s for them, shoe leather for you, that’s if you can afford shoes.

Canada’s budget watchdog is pressing Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne for updated figures on the true cost of Ottawa’s electric vehicle battery subsidies, warning taxpayers are being kept in the dark as the industry falters.

Budget Officer Yves Giroux wrote to the Department of Finance on August 14 asking for revised forecasts on both construction support and ongoing production subsidies.