Environment Committee on Nov. 6th, 2025

[Doug Green]

Yes, that's probably true.

Do I fully understand how you're asking it? No.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

What I'm suggesting is that there is no EV alternative. There is no fit-for-purpose EV available, or even projected to be available, that suits the tradespeople, the farmers, the ranchers and the people who are using the vehicles to actually do work and not just cruise from A to B.

[Doug Green]

Well, yes, General Motors first announced that the Chevy Silverado was going to be priced at $60,000. I took orders for them. We then found out it was going to be $95,000, because they couldn't be profitable produced at $60,000. They had high hopes, but your colleagues are forgetting the profitability factor. If you can't be profitable, you don't produce. There is not an affordable alternative for the tradesperson other than a very expensive truck that doesn't get the job done, period.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Once again, we're seeing that mandates result in a purpose that doesn't match the implementation. There is a mismatch.

[Doug Green]

A hundred per cent.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Mr. Green, you mentioned investing over $200,000 to sell EVs, and losing $10,000. In your view, what does that say about the government's understanding of the affordability and the market readiness for electric vehicles in Canada?

[Doug Green]

Your colleagues talked about misinformation. A lot of what they've said is somewhat factual, but it's also misrepresentation as well. The market is not ready for it. If the free market was ready for it, and it was the best technology at the best prices, it would champion the market and we would rock 'n' roll with it. I'd be all on board. But when I can't make a profit, and nobody is asking and nobody is demanding.... Even Quebec dealers saw massive drops when the subsidization stopped. The tap turned off in B.C. and Quebec.

General Motors knows it. We just went to a conference on it. We're reducing production on the Equinox. It's too expensive. We're going to try to regroup with the Chevy Bolt, which is less expensive. We're trying to bring more market products available at a price that's affordable. It's hard in the market when battery prices and everything else are huge components. We just can't get there and be profitable. You can demand something, but at the end of the day, if you can't make it profitable, it doesn't work.

[David Bexte, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

I have one short question: Would you say your dealership is typical of southern Canadian prairie dealerships?

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Could we have a very short answer, please?

[Doug Green]

Sure.

Absolutely. Even at the big metro stores—

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Thank you.

[Doug Green]

—who we talk with all the time, they have an EV that's been on their lot for a year and a half.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Mr. St‑Pierre, you have five minutes.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you for your testimony.

Mr. Breton, as a former Quebec environment minister and mobility expert, you have given us some amazing and compelling testimony today. You also talked about the Ernst & Young 2025 report, which said that your industry already employs 130,000 people. I know that my Conservative colleagues prefer the economy of the past. This report seems to be about the economy of the future.

Can you share that report with the members of our committee?

[Daniel Breton]

Absolutely. This is a public report that came out a few months ago and was recently updated by Ernst & Young.

To respond to what our dealer friend says about making affordable cars, I would say to him that these are not cars, but sport utility vehicles, or SUVs, that are manufactured in South Korea or China, by the way. There are tariffs on Chinese EVs, but there are no tariffs on Chinese gas-powered vehicles.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Going back to the EY report, you mentioned 130,000 jobs currently, and I believe you said over 600,000 jobs by 2035, which is quite impressive. Can you comment on specifically the types of jobs that would exist or that currently exist in such provinces as Saskatchewan or Alberta or B.C.?

[Daniel Breton]

One thing that is very interesting is the fact that people are now waking up to the fact that we as a country have critical minerals in pretty much every province—Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and B.C. I've been talking about this for two decades, and nobody was interested until a few years ago. Now we're starting to talk about national security and critical minerals. One component is that it obviously has to do with the military, but the other component is the transition to electric vehicles and renewable energy. We're talking about jobs in mining and jobs in refining and transformation. We're also talking about jobs in infrastructure and manufacturing and R and D. For instance, in Saskatchewan they build electric trucks that go into mines now. These are new jobs that did not exist before.

On top of that, we have electricity production. If utilities have to plan forward to see where the trend is going to go, keep in mind that there were fewer than 10,000 electric cars in Canada 15 years ago. Now there are almost a million. We should be at approximately two and a half million to three million between now and the next five to 10 years. We have to plan forward. Utilities have to plan forward. We have to create jobs. When I talk to folks in different provinces, their issue is not so much that we have to lay off people; it's that we have to find qualified workers. That's a real challenge. I am happy that your government decided to put money aside so that we can train or retrain workers who are currently losing their jobs in other departments.

One thing I would like to say about that is the fact that when we are talking about the future of jobs, keep in mind that some people do not want the regulation. They don't want the competition either, which I find odd, because if we're talking about freedom of choice, that is not at all the way we're going. The real situation is the tariffs. We have to look at the tariffs situation and what we do with our minerals in Canada. Do we work with reliable partners? I think that's a real question that we need to ask ourselves when it comes to the EVAS and what we do with these critical minerals.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

You mentioned earlier some fake news, and you wrote a book about some myths. Why would the opposition communicate falsehoods?

[Daniel Breton]

Well, I don't want to say anything on their behalf. I mean, I've tried to meet with Conservatives for about six months. I've looked at the list of meetings they've had with some legacy automakers. They have meetings pretty much every month with legacy automakers. They've had no meetings with us so far. I'm guessing they're getting their false information from some manufacturers or they're not interested in the best interests of Canadians.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

What would you make of Mr. Green's testimony today?

[Daniel Breton]

I can understand his point of view. He's a dealer in a rural area of a province that is not pushing for electric cars, to say the least. But if I talk to other rural dealers—in Quebec, for instance—we have made a difference. We have shown leadership. I live in rural Quebec, so I know full well how easy it is to travel in eastern Canada, beyond Quebec to Atlantic Canada. In the winter I was in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and P.E.I., and there was no issue at all travelling or commuting for those people.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

We talked about charging infrastructure. I'm wondering if you could comment on charging infrastructure—

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

That's time.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

All right.

Thank you for your testimony.

[The Chair, Liberal, Angelo Iacono]

Mr. Bonin, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

One minute, please.

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