Canadians oppose Liberal 2035 prohibition of new gas, diesel vehicles
Canada is set to outlaw new gas and diesel powered passenger vehicle sales by 2035
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OTTAWA — Despite the Liberals going all-in on a government-mandated internal combustion engine ban, recent polling shows Canadians are not on board.
In a Leger poll commissioned by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, 54% say they’re against the planned national ban on the sale of new gas and diesel vehicles by 2035.
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Thirty-six per cent say they’re in favour, while 10% said they didn’t know.
“This ban means taxpayers will foot the bill for charging stations, grid upgrades and massive subsidies,” said Carson Binda, the federation’s B.C. director.
“Canadians deserve clarity from every party. Will they back a costly mandate or will they respect taxpayers and protect Canadians’ freedom to choose their own vehicles?”
Earlier this year, Transport Canada abruptly ended its Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) program after it ran out of money.
The end of that program came just 12 months before the start of the Trudeau Liberals’ multi-year EV sales mandate, where 20% of all new Canadian car sales must be zero-emission.
That figure is mandated to reach 100% by 2035, effectively outlawing the sale of cars and trucks equipped with internal-combustion engines.
Canada’s auto industry has also called for an end to the ZEV mandates, citing unrealistic government expectations and a lack of funding for a nation-wide roll-out of charging infrastructure.
“It should be obvious to everyone now that provincial and federally mandated zero emission sales targets are no longer ambitious, but a complete fantasy,” said Brian Kingston, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association (CVMA) at a Parliament Hill news conference earlier this year.
Opposition to the engine ban was spread pretty evenly across Canada, but was highest (68%) in Alberta and lowest (55%) in Quebec.
The poll was conducted between April 11 and 13 among 1,630 adult Canadians via Leger’s online panel.
As margins-of-error don’t apply to polls conducted via online panels, a comparable sample size would yield a margin ±2.4%, 19 times out of 20.
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