Environment Committee on Nov. 6th, 2025

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Greetings, Mr. Green. I suggest you come and see what's happening in Quebec. To my knowledge, EV sales increased by 100% last year, thanks in part to General Motors and its Chevrolet Equinox, the top-selling vehicle in Quebec. There clearly is a market. I suggest you focus on your advertising or move to another province.

Mr. Breton and Ms. Kyriazis, can you tell us more about the sales obligation dealers have? We're hearing about a 20% sales obligation and an extra $20,000.

[Daniel Breton]

The Alberta dealer can sell zero EVs with no problem if he wants to. The obligation is on the manufacturers, not the dealers. Some manufacturers will sell more, others will sell fewer and still others can sell none by 2030, 2032 or 2034.

We recommend that, as of 2032, the target be maintained and fixed at 83%, if memory serves, because some people will never want to drive an electric vehicle. I would remind you that, in 2032, technology will have improved considerably, which will make things easier and easier.

I live in a rural area and work in Saint-Hyacinthe, the largest agricultural region in Quebec. Every dealership in the area sells a lot of pickup trucks and cars to farmers. EV sales in Saint-Hyacinthe are going very well because dealerships and farmers have decided to transition to electric vehicles. In April or May 2025, when the federal rebate had been removed and all that was left was the $4,000 rebate from Quebec, about 40% of the vehicles sold by the GM dealership in Saint-Hyacinthe were GM electric vehicles.

We should look at the Province of Alberta, which, instead of encouraging the transition to electric vehicles, taxes them. That's part of the equation as well.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

You talk a lot about disinformation. In fact, I've seen campaigns based on slogans often quoted by my Conservative colleagues.

To your knowledge, is the oil industry linked to these campaigns? Who is behind the disinformation campaigns often quoted by my colleagues?

[Daniel Breton]

On the Canadian side, I don't know. However, last year, under the Joe Biden presidency, the Independent Petroleum Association of America launched a campaign specifically to oppose the transition to electric vehicles. Therefore, we need to take a closer look at what is happening on the Canadian side. All I can tell you is that, as I said at the beginning of my presentation, there is a great deal of disinformation.

I'll remind you of what I meant earlier when I said that the price of new gas-powered vehicles was really a problem. Ms. Kyriazis talked about that. According to AutoTrader, the average sale price of a new gas-powered vehicle is $63,000, and the average sale price of a new pickup truck is $81,000. The affordability of new vehicles is a major issue. That's why the regulations will lead to more and more affordable electric vehicles on the market.

Ms. Kyriazis is absolutely right to say that, for the moment, people aren't actually being given a choice. It is wrong to tell people that they have a choice to buy the vehicle they want. There are no cheap vehicles. How many GM cars are left on the market? There is one, the Chevrolet Corvette. There is only one gas-powered Ford car left, the Mustang. There is no cheap Chrysler gas-powered car. The manufacturers all produce pickup trucks and SUVs that are much more expensive than cars. There are no more cheap cars from most manufacturers, especially American manufacturers.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

You're telling us that the “My car, my choice” campaign, which was run by the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, Mr. Duhaime, and launched by my Conservative colleagues to abolish the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, is nonsense.

[Daniel Breton]

To buy more cars, there aren't a lot of choices.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Okay.

I understand that we need a zero-emission mandate.

What about European vehicles and Chinese electric vehicles?

Do you think there are enough of them and that they could be part of the solution if we want more economical vehicles?

[Daniel Breton]

The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association advocates for affordable European vehicles to enter the Canadian market, because it recognizes that access to affordable vehicles, whether electric or gas-powered, is a problem.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Why are there no such vehicles on the Canadian market?

[Daniel Breton]

Having worked with the auto industry for a long time, I know that it is often the Americans who choose the vehicles that are available on the Canadian market. The American branch manufacturer chooses the vehicles, not us. Canadian branches can make requests, but it is often not up to them to make the decision. If there are no regulations, the Americans will decide most of the time. This is a real problem.

That's why we want to let European vehicles enter the Canadian market, at the very least. For Chinese vehicles, it's more complicated for obvious geopolitical reasons, but we definitely need more affordable vehicles.

Honestly, I see this as a real problem for the average person, but it has nothing to do with the electric vehicle regulations. In addition, as you can see, some automakers now want to bring affordable vehicles from Europe into the Canadian market.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Can they do that?

[Daniel Breton]

They can't do it for regulatory reasons. We are told that the regulations in Europe and America are not the same and that there are constraints. I'm saying that European vehicles manufactured in Europe, sold in Europe and available in Europe are just as safe as vehicles sold in North America.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Could the government easily change the regulations?

[Daniel Breton]

Yes.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

The floor is yours, Mr. Bexte, for five minutes.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, witnesses. I appreciate your being here today.

Mr. Green, you mentioned that rural customers aren't purchasing EVs because they don't suit their work or lifestyle needs. There's a disparity between the use case for people who live in urban environments and rural people, particularly farmers, tradespeople and ranchers. That's your hometown.

What would be your estimate on the split of vehicle sales to people buying for pleasure, for commuting, or for work and trades?

[Doug Green]

Gosh, that's a great question. I would say that it's probably fifty-fifty.

If you have two vehicles at your home, one is going to be probably more for pleasure and one is going to be more for work. If you have a pickup truck and maybe a crossover SUV, it's a fifty-fifty split.

Mr. Bexte, if I could just take 30 seconds, we do make an affordable car at $28,000, and it is a gas-powered vehicle, just so we're on the record—

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Please, I'll try to—

[Doug Green]

—and General Motors sales did drop.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

I'll let you follow up with more material later.

[Doug Green]

Sure.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

I wanted you to comment on the suitability of gas-powered vehicles or diesel-powered vehicles for work use. We know there are no EV or hybrid alternatives available.

[Doug Green]

A farmer or a tradesperson who has a truck has to pull his trailer. When you have a Silverado half-ton EV, it's great and it's nice, but it doesn't have the same capacity to do the job, and the range isn't there when you start pulling trailers and doing utility and doing work with it.

You can drive around and you can get to where you want to go. It has a massive battery and it's a heavyweight vehicle, but are people saying, “Hey, I want to use this for work capacity”? No, they're not. If it's a $120,000 Sierra Denali, sure, or if it's a $183,000 Hummer truck, okay, but the tradesperson is not buying that. They can't afford that.

They know it doesn't work for them. They know that it won't pull their trailer with range in the wintertime.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

It's not their first purpose.

If we take a lot of the testimony together, we're hearing that no one is buying EVs en masse without policy incentives and subsidies. We have an $80-billion deficit projected this year by this new government, this new old government, and there's nothing available in the market that's fit for purpose.

Would you concur with that?