Environment Committee on April 16th, 2026

[Anna van der Kamp]

Natural Resources Canada has programs supporting those types of projects across the country that are starting to look at those processes and abilities.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Thank you.

We have a few minutes remaining. Resources can go until 1:10. If the committee would like to continue with a few more questions, we could do three minutes per party, or we could adjourn early. Is everyone amenable to doing three minutes per party, and then we'll finish?

Okay. That's wonderful.

We will go to Ms. Anstey for three minutes, please.

Oh, it's Mr. Leslie.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Ms. Anstey is not feeling as well as some of the days she's here.

I'd like to ask a rather specific question. Class 8 trucks are built mostly in the United States. If Canada goes out of alignment with American emissions rules, we risk fewer trucks in Canada, higher freight costs and higher prices for Canadians. Why is the government flirting with a policy disaster that will make it even harder and more expensive to move goods?

[Mark Cauchi]

In this particular case, the light-duty vehicle regulations will not address heavy-duty vehicles. Those are separate regulations. These regulations will only look at the light-duty fleet, light trucks. In some cases, they are obviously for cars and medium-duty vehicles but not heavy-duty trucks. The class 8s that you're referring to are under a separate policy.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Is the plan to never include them?

[Mark Cauchi]

We do have heavy-duty GHG regulations. They're separate from these regulations. Those have been in place since 2014. An announcement has not been made around their status, so they remain in place in Canada. We see compliance with those regulations from OEMs, and there was no additional attempt—

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

I have a different question.

Was there ever modelling done on how many EVs were anticipated to be sold in that experience that we had when there were no rebates in place at the federal level versus with rebates? What is the difference in sales expected to be?

[Mark Cauchi]

I think we would have to refer that to our colleagues at Transport Canada, as they are responsible for that.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

That's a Transport Canada question. Okay.

I would like to go back to the question I asked earlier regarding the quote from the backgrounder document which says that a “larger percentage of EVs will be required by all companies to meet the standard over time.”

My question is not what the aspirational target of 75% or 90% by 2040 is. What is that requirement? That indicates to me there is something in the agreement or something at least has been projected to the industry that there is a requirement of a certain percentage of EVs that have to be manufactured.

[Mark Cauchi]

This is not a sales mandate. It will be at grams per mile.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

I didn't say sales mandate. I said manufacturing mandate.

[Mark Cauchi]

Manufacturing mandate....

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

The word “required” is clearly deliberate.

[Mark Cauchi]

Right now we're dealing with a pollution regulation, so it's a sales-weighted emissions regulation.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

In the backgrounder, which is supposed to be, I assume, accurate for starters but detailed, why is the specific word “required” used? It is not hoped and dreamed that they might get built but it's “required” by all companies to meet the standard over time. There must be a clear plan of what that is. I'm curious, what is that percentage?

[Mark Cauchi]

The government has laid out the percentage of 75%. Its target is 75% EV sales.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

That's a target, but this states very clearly “required”. I asked about the mandated regulations and whether they've been repealed or not. They have not been, but I certainly hope they are. To me, this seems like a mandate by a different approach. The word “required” in the government document indicates that it's clear there is a plan to mandate from the manufacturer side, not the sale side necessarily, like the old plan, and that a certain percentage of vehicles be manufactured as EVs in Canada.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Thank you, Mr. Leslie.

We will now move to Mr. Greaves for three minutes.

[Will Greaves, Liberal, Victoria, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Before asking my question, I would like to set the record straight because the model of Norway has come up several times in our meeting today, and the reason for that, of course, is that Norway leads the world in EV adoption. Ninety-seven per cent of vehicles sold in that country last year are electric vehicles. One of our colleagues suggested that it was a fallacy to compare Norway to Canada for a variety of reasons. I'd like the record to show that that is not correct.

The average December temperature in the community of Tromsø, very, very far north in Norway, I assure you, is 0°C. The average December temperature in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, is 5°C. The average winter temperature in Karasjok, in north Norway, is -16°C. The average temperature in Smithers, British Columbia, is -11°C. Both those communities are in Mr. Ross's riding.

The point is that there is, in fact, no geographic nor climatological reasons that something that works in Norway would not work in northern Canada, and the fallacy is that our colleagues continue to insist otherwise.

I understand that the comparison to Norway is not favourable to our Albertan friends because it throws into contrast the way that resource wealth has been managed differently in those two polities. Let's try to stick to the facts, please.

May I ask our witnesses if there's any reason to believe that cold temperatures or remote northern distances are an insurmountable obstacle towards EV adoption in northern and remote communities in Canada?

[Mark Cauchi]

Certainly there are some impacts on battery performance associated with extreme cold weather. I think that's very well known and most automakers will admit that. However, are they insurmountable? I don't think so.

When we look at the average experience in a country like Norway, Norway has spent a lot of time on public education in northern communities around warming batteries before charging in the morning in cold and extreme weather. They have done a number of pilots in northern Norway to bring communities on board with that work and with an EV transition.

We see that Iceland has high EV sales as well. They similarly have made that happen. Sweden, Denmark, you can keep going on the list.

Is it insurmountable? I don't think it is. I think we're definitely seeing technologies improving. We're seeing more familiarity with how to manage extreme cold weather—

[Will Greaves, Liberal, Victoria, BC]

Excuse me.

Madam Chair, I think it's difficult to hear the witness. Our colleagues are not showing suitable respect to the witnesses in front of our committee today.

I'd ask if we could have a few more seconds for the witness to complete his answer.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Yes, we will quiet down a little bit and have another 20 seconds.

[Mark Cauchi]

Cold jurisdictions and jurisdictions with extreme winter weather are adopting EVs. That's not to say their experience is identical to ours in Canada.

Certainly, we do expect that there will be improvements in battery technology, in charging and in the availability of charging, etc. There is no reason why an electric vehicle cannot be used at this time in a northern community if it's available and if there is charging there for it. We would just cite the international examples where that is the case.

[Will Greaves, Liberal, Victoria, BC]

I appreciate the response. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Thank you very much.

We'll finish with Mr. Simard for three minutes.