Madam Speaker, considering this is my first speech of any length during this Parliament, I just want to thank all the constituents of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound for giving me the privilege and honour of being re-elected for the third time to represent them. None of us get here without the incredible hard work of volunteers, supporters and family members, so I just want to thank all of them.
Another thing that I want to do before I get into the crux of my speech is pay tribute to the victims of a tragic vehicle accident. Just a few short weeks ago, on May 23, four high school students, Olivia Rourke, Rowan McLeod, Kaydance Ford and Danica Baker, all aged 16 to 17, along with their teacher, Matt Eckert, 33 years old, died in a tragic vehicle crash. The students and teacher were on their way home to Walkerton District Community School after competing in a high school softball tournament just east of London. Although Walkerton is in the riding of Huron—Bruce, two of the four teenage girls, Rowan McLeod and Kaydance Ford, were part of the Tara Twins minor softball team in my hometown, and all the victims have family in Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound.
On behalf of all the constituents of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound and all Canadians, I send my deepest condolences to all the families, friends and communities impacted by this terrible tragedy. May they rest in peace.
What are we here to do today? We are here to talk about a Conservative opposition day motion addressing the Liberal government's ban of the sale of gas-powered vehicles that will force Canadians to buy electrical vehicles, and this motion is calling upon them to immediately end this ban, but this debate is really about freedom, choice and common sense.
I got involved in politics, and one of the key overriding factors was the increasing rural-urban divide that I was seeing across Canada. I was tired of seeing decisions coming out of Ottawa from the Liberal government that forced policies and legislation on rural Canadians that may work for some of our urban centres, but not the rest of the country. This ban is just one such example.
Let us assume this Liberal ban continues. With a broad brush, what is actually needed to implement this Liberal policy of banning gas vehicles and having nothing but EVs on the road en masse? I am really going to focus on the infrastructure challenge. We need transmission and distribution lines. We need housing infrastructure. We need charging infrastructure. We need road infrastructure. Finally, we need affordable and reliable EVs.
Specifically, let us look at the transmission and distribution lines. According to the government's own department, Natural Resources Canada, the:
estimate of grid upgrades required to meet EV demand—including generation, transmission and distribution—ranges from $26 billion to 294 billion (mid-range: $94 billion) over the 2025 to 2040 period, reflecting the significant uncertainty around the magnitude of costs, as well as regional variations.
That is very much aligned with a conversation I had a couple years ago with Electricity Canada and all the major stakeholders involved there. The sheer amount of money that needs to be put in to upgrade these lines is immense. Where is the federal support for that? Where is the provincial support? Where is the private industry support? It is not even close to what is needed to meet the mandate the Liberals are proposing.
Next, let us look at housing infrastructure for many rural Canadians and senior Canadians, even in my own riding. I live in a 150-year-old farmhouse. I am going to rip it down and build a new one, but in the meantime, I am using glass fuses. The power line that runs from the road to my house could not handle an electric vehicle even if I wanted to replace it all. I am just one example, and fortunately I am privileged enough to be able to eventually change and fix that, but that is not the case for the average constituent in my riding of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound.
As well, the largest appetite for EVs comes in our more urban areas, but those people living in apartments or condos do not even have access to or control of the necessary charging infrastructure needed in their homes. Approximately 34% of households in Canada live in apartments. This is a huge issue.
On charging infrastructure, right now there are approximately 34,000 charging stations across Canada. Again, Natural Resources Canada's reports forecast that 680,000 public charging ports are needed to meet this Liberal mandate. Where is the plan? Where is the investment? Who is going to pay for all this infrastructure?
On road infrastructure, our current roads are ill-equipped to handle the increased weight of electric vehicles. If, by 2035, we see Canadians only able to purchase new electric vehicles, provincial and municipal budgets will be eaten up by the cost of road repairs alone. Provincial governments, as was brought up earlier in the debate, mainly dedicate the revenue generated from gas taxes to building and fixing the roads, which would no longer be available. These are just highlights on the challenges of infrastructure alone.
On the cost, Trevor Melanson, from Clean Energy Canada, said this about the biggest barrier preventing Canadians from going to EVs: “the biggest barrier, by far, is sticker price.” The minimum price is $15,000 over a brand new gas-powered vehicle. I would argue that this is if we are looking at high-end gas vehicles.
The next question is addressing this. We need affordable, reliable and available EVs that Canadians actually want. Do Canadians want them? Let us look at a recent survey, published in the last couple of months or weeks, asking consumers about their purchasing intentions. There were 45% of Canadians who said that they quite possibly would consider buying an EV. However, this is a 13% decrease compared to when this question was asked in 2022. The bottom line is that the situation has changed.
I spent 25 years in the military. When we do what is called “battle procedure”, getting ready to deploy into battle or an operation, we go through this whole tactical process. What is the last thing we do? We ask ourselves, has the situation changed? Guess what, we are in an affordability crisis. We are dealing with tariffs. We are dealing with a situation where we can no longer afford to go with this mandate; we need to revisit it.
Earlier, I mentioned the urban-rural divide. Not surprisingly, the majority of urban Canadians, statistics indicate somewhere between 52% and 69%, actually would not mind an EV. All the power to them, let them buy an electric vehicle, but as I have outlined, for those of us in rural Canada this is not an option and the interest is not there.
Let us talk about the reliability of electric vehicles. CAA found that EVs lose up to 40% of their battery life in cold weather, and this was a test that was done in the -7°C to -15°C range, which is actually pretty balmy for those who live in western Canada or even rural Ontario. I just went through one of the worst winters that we have had in decades, for the sheer amount of snowfall. If I get stuck out there in the snow during a snowstorm, the one thing I carry around is a spare gas can so that I am not going to run out of gas and I can keep myself warm. However, people driving an EV do not have that option.
What about the impact that this mandate will have on the Canadian economy? Will these EVs even be available? Ford Canada CEO Bev Goodman said on June 10, “The targets on full battery-electric vehicles need to be aligned with what customers want, and customers have spoken.... Ultimately, it will have a negative impact, if these mandates stuck, on the industry.... It will have downward pressure on vehicle sales, it will have upward pressure on pricing, and those are real concerns for consumers and the industry as a whole.”
In conclusion, this Liberal EV mandate makes no sense. It is unrealistic. There is no plan for infrastructure, whether it be transmission lines, charging stations, home upgrades or road upgrades. It will negatively impact Canadians' jobs and make life more expensive. I am not opposed to Canadians who want to buy or drive an EV. However, this EV mandate disproportionately impacts rural Canadians and seniors, and it takes away their choices of freedom. This mandate needs to end now.