Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced he would cut a proposed $20,000 tax hike on gas-powered vehicles if elected. The tax would be implemented next year on all vehicles beyond a government-imposed quota of allotted gas-powered vehicle sales.
Along with other pledges to cut GST costs on Canadian-made vehicles, Poilievre announced in Halifax a plan to cut the “Carney tax” on gas-powered vehicles, designed to phase sales out by 2035.
“That’s not a penalty for the car company. They’ll just pass it on. It’s a penalty for you, the consumer. If you want to buy a vehicle that is gas-powered, then you will very likely face taxes on that vehicle if the Liberals are re-elected,” he said. ”This is Mark Carney’s vision for Canada, a country where you don’t get to choose what kind of car you drive, where prices on everything skyrocket to fund his radical ideology.”
He said Carney’s plan will pass the cost onto consumers just like his proposed industrial carbon tax hike.
“Canadian workers in places like Oshawa and Windsor face losing their jobs just to justify the ideological fantasies of out-of-touch bankers and liberal ideologues, people who spend too much of their adult life outside of Canada, disconnected from the reality of Canadian life,” he said. “Now, make no mistake, this is an attack on your paycheck, and it’s a direct hit to the auto workers.”
Poilievre pledged to maintain all government contracts with electric vehicles, maintaining Canadian jobs, but said that Canadians shouldn’t be penalized for purchasing vehicles that they want and that work best in a Canadian climate.
“We will continue to support the battery plants, the EVS and the other commitments the government has made, because we don’t believe in tearing up agreements,” he said. “We believe in supporting Canadian jobs right here in Canada.”
He noted a report by independent economist Ross McKittrick, who estimated that the Liberal ban on gas-powered vehicles by 2035 will kill 38,000 Canadian auto sector jobs and cost the economy $138 billion. The study suggested that the ban could mean significant losses to the Canadian auto sector, including its potential permanent closure.
“Who benefits from all this? Foreign automakers. Tesla will benefit. Mark Carney wants you to pay a $20,000 tax on a gas-powered vehicle to pay credits to Tesla, a foreign automaker sending our money and our jobs abroad once again,” Poilievre added. “No wonder Donald Trump says he prefers when Liberals run Canada and keep the economy weak and costly.”
Although Poilievre said he supports Canadians’ right to buy EVs if they so choose, he aimed at the Liberal plan to coerce Canadians to buy solely EVs, particularly in Canada’s cold winter climate.
“Let me be clear. I have nothing against electric cars. If you want one, buy one, free choice. Make your own decision. I encourage you to buy one that’s made in Canada,” Poilievre said. “And I go even further to say that a Conservative government would bring real change and axe the federal sales tax on any vehicles made in Canada so that you can save by buying Canadian.”
According to tests by the Canadian Automobile Association in -7 and -15°c temperatures, Electric Vehicles can lose up to 39 per cent of their battery life in the cold. Canadian temperatures often drop well below the -15°c temperature range.
This comes after a new Léger poll commissioned by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation found that 60 per cent of decided Canadians opposed a national ban on the sale of all gas and diesel-powered vehicles by 2035.
Poilievre read a quote from Carney’s book “Value(s),” which True North has reported on in a series, saying Canada needs to “use the regulatory policy to frame the future direction of our economy, such as explicit timetables to phase out internal combustion engines.”
“‘These measures are critical,’ he says, and that’s exactly what he plans to do,” Poilievre said. “The Liberals have set a deadline to ban new gas-powered vehicles altogether by 2035, but that ban is phased in starting next year. In other words, this is not a tomorrow problem. This is a now problem.”
He said the ensuing layoffs would cost many Canadians jobs and result in dramatic rises in prices for consumers.
“Mr. Carney doesn’t care if your family has to choose between affording a warm home or a working car. He doesn’t care if a young couple trying to start a life can’t afford their first vehicle. We’ve got news for Mr. Carney,” he said. “Canadians are taking back control of their lives for a change.”
“No more Carny tax, no more Carney quotas, no more liberal bans on cars Canadians want to drive. And we won’t stop there. We will make bold changes so that your life becomes affordable.”