Environment committee  Absolutely. This is one of the main things we're recommending at the Pembina Institute when it comes to the uptake of zero-emission vehicles. One thing we have noticed in our research is that Canada has a pretty significant supply issue when it comes to zero-emission vehicles. Across Canada, only about a third of dealers have offered at least one plug-in electric vehicle.

Environment committee  Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much for the question. The first thing I'd note is that, at least when we're talking about the ISED program, there are manufacturers' suggested retail price ceilings, which is generally about $45,000 to $55,000 per vehicle. We would say that this compares pretty favourably with the price of the average light-duty vehicle that was sold in Canada in 2019, which cost just a bit over $40,000.

Environment committee  In terms of our forecast on GHG emissions right now, transportation emissions are at about 186 megatonnes CO2 equivalent in 2018 for the transportation sector. We do actually see that declining somewhat out to 2030, largely due to the impact of the passenger automotive greenhouse gas emissions standard.

Environment committee  It definitely is possible when you look at the accelerating pace of climate change awareness and climate change knowledge and these accelerating investments that are happening in Canada and around the world. On our side at Pembina, California has the intention to ban gas vehicles, which caught us somewhat by surprise, on very strong regulation.

Environment committee  If I understand your question, you're referring to a quota for electric vehicle manufacturing in Canada, and that being reserved for the Canadian market. It depends on what our goals are here. If our goals are just reduced greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, I would advocate that we just allow all the electric vehicles to come into Canada from wherever they're manufactured and put as few barriers in place as possible for Canadian purchasers.

Environment committee  I think it's always important to consider the impacts of the pandemic and to consider the fact that Canadians are hurting right now, to take that into account when we design our environmental policies, and then to try to ensure that equity is part of those policies as much as possible.

Environment committee  Absolutely. We would be strongly in support of such a regulation. I would note that your comment about the DC fast chargers is especially accurate. In terms of charging speed and charging time for vehicles that are going to a gas station, those fast charging times would be especially convenient and especially comparable to the effect of gasoline for traditional internal combustion engine vehicles.

Environment committee  Mr. Chair and committee members, thank you for the invitation to take part in your consultations on zero-emission vehicles. My name is Cedric Smith. I am an analyst with The Pembina Institute, a clean-energy think tank with offices in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. The Pembina Institute leads the urban delivery solutions initiative, a national network of businesses and organizations working to modernize urban freight operations in Canadian cities.