Poilievre vows to scrap Liberal electric vehicle mandate

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he’ll do away with the Liberal electric vehicle mandate if he becomes prime minister after Monday’s election. Poilievre said at a Thursday event at a Halifax car dealership that the state has no place in the garages of Canadians. “Conservatives will put (Canadians) back in the drivers seat for a change. You will decide what’s good for you and your family,” Poilievre told supporters. “Let me be clear, I have nothing against electric vehicles. If you want one, buy one. Free choice,” he added. Under the Liberal plan, sales of gasoline-powered cars will be gradually phased out over the next decade, with a target of 100 per cent zero emission car sales by 2035. Poilievre said that the time to act is now, with the plan set to start next year.

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“Dealerships like this one across Canada have no idea how they’re going to meet these timelines,” said Poilievre. Poilievre said that the Liberal mandate was effectively a $20,000 per car tax on gas-powered vehicles, which would go from the pockets of Canadian taxpayers to foreign automakers like Tesla. Brian Kingston, the head of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association was quick to applaud Poilievre’s announcement. “Mandating EV sales when the auto industry is under attack from US tariffs is putting the puck in our own net. Scrapping the mandate is a smart policy and urgently needed,” wrote Kingston on social media. Poilievre also said on Thursday that he’d keep billions in Liberal subsidies for domestic EV and battery plants, promising to honour all deals that have already been signed. “(Conservatives) will continue to support… the commitments the government has made because we don’t believe in tearing up agreements, we believe in supporting Canadian jobs right here in Canada,” said Poilievre. National Post rmohamed@postmedia.com Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what’s really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.