Debate on the Need to Reduce Vehicle Emissions ‘Is Over,’ Transport Minister Tells MPs

Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra speaks with reporters before appearing as a witness at a House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure, and Communities in Ottawa on Jan. 12, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby)

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra told a parliamentary committee on April 20 that the debate on the need to reduce vehicle emissions “is over” as the federal government looks to implement a number of incentives to encourage Canadians to purchase electric vehicles.

Alghabra made the comments during an appearance before the Commons Standing Committee on Transport while being questioned by MPs about a number of spending measures his department plans to undertake as part of the Liberal government’s most recent budget.

Liberal MP Churence Rogers asked Alghabra about one spending measure that will provide additional federal incentives for Canadian businesses purchasing medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs).

“What is the significance of this policy? How much do medium and heavy-duty vehicles account for overall transportation-related emissions,” Rogers asked.

“I think the debate about having to do something to reduce emissions is over,” Alghabra replied. “All Canadians understand that we have to cut down our pollution from transportation.”

“If we are serious about reducing pollution, we need to tackle emissions that are coming from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.”

Alghabra’s comments on the matter come about two months after in-house research contracted by Natural Resources Canada found that nearly 40 percent of Canadians do not believe ZEVs are better for the environment than other types of cars.

Researchers who conducted the survey and wrote the report added that the number of Canadians who believe ZEVs are better for the environment fell by 5 percent from 2021 to 2022.

The report, titled “Canadians’ awareness, knowledge and attitudes related to zero emission vehicles” and published in February, also found that just over half of the survey’s respondents (51 percent) believed ZEVs are “less damaging to the environment than gas or diesel-powered vehicles.”

In addition, only about 17 percent of survey respondents said they believe there is an affordable ZEV on the market that suits their needs.

Electric Vehicle Mandates

Ottawa moved in December 2022 to mandate that 60 percent of all new passenger vehicles sold in Canada be ZEVs by 2030. Those same new regulations would see the number jump to 100 percent by 2035.

Along with the proposed regulations, the federal government also renewed a program through which Canadians can claim up to $5,000 toward the cost of buying or leasing a ZEV.

“With ZEVs, we can cut pollution, create jobs, and make life more affordable for families across the country,” said Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault in a statement on Dec. 21, 2022.

The plan for a national transition to ZEVs goes along with the Liberal government’s broader climate goal to reach net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.

Yet, in a report tabled in Parliament on April 20, Federal Environment Commissioner Jerry DeMarco said the federal government has no way of measuring the extent to which its GHG regulations are reducing emissions.

DeMarco’s office said in the report that it found the approach taken by Guilbeault’s department to measure emissions “did not attribute emission results to specific regulations.”

It also found that the department “could not be certain whether regulations to limit methane emissions helped Canada reach its targets.”

“This increases the uncertainty about the quantity and significance of the reductions being achieved,” said DeMarco’s report. “Without comprehensive impact information, the federal government does not know whether it is using the right tools to reduce emissions.”