Mr. Chair, I have a couple of things. The member across acknowledged that negotiations are sensitive and that they should not be debated here. Let me be clear. There is no better place for this to be debated. Healthy dialogue is so important.
She was talking about the electric vehicle mandate. Do not get me wrong: I am not talking down electric vehicles, but I do not want to be forced with regard to whether or not I should buy them. We have to remember that by 2030, the Liberal government wants 100% of vehicle sales to be electric. Currently, Canada has about 37,000 public charging points. To meet this target, we would need 373,000 new chargers. That is 98 per day for the next 10 years, at a cost of roughly $300,000 each, more in rural areas like my own and in northern regions, totalling $112 billion.
Every single auto association, every company and every labour group that I have spoken with as shadow minister for Canada-U.S. trade says that the federal EV mandate is unrealistic and has put an additional strain on manufacturers already facing pressure.
Given these realities, will the member support ending the EV mandate and advocate that a pause is not good enough and that what is needed is a permanent removal?