Companies pull back from environmental aspirations

Another day, and another outcry that environmental and other regulations must be sacrificed in order to achieve the current categorical imperative: building up the Canadian economy and showing those damned Americans that we don't need them. It's all about 'nation-building" and "fast-tracking" right now.

This one comes from GM Canada, never actually a model of environmental and moral probity, it has to be said. GM Canada President Kristian Aquilina gripes that Canada's electric vehicle (EV) mandate is totally unattainable and therefore should be scrapped. He says that none of his traditional automaker competitors are even close to achieving the targets either, so why should GM try?

The EV targets, brought in back in the heady idealistic days of 2022, call for 20% of new car sales to be battery powered in 2026, rising to 60% by 2030, and 100% by 2035. This, in the interests of, you know, the environment. Where we actually are is that, in 2024, 13.8% of new Canadian vehicle sales were EVs. So, not THAT far off, but still a steep hill to climb.

Sure, these are ambitious targets, but just because something is hard doesn't mean you don't do it, or don't even try to do it. Aquilina blames a lack of infrastructure investments and consumer incentives for the lack of uptake, but that's just him blaming someone - anyone - else. How much effort has he put into achieving the targets?

Demand for EVs, while still increasing in Canada, is increasing slower in recent months, not least because of Trump's anti-EV crusade south of the border, which affects us too for some reason. (EV growth is slowing gravely in the US.)

So, to some extent Aquilina is correct - as things stand, the targets will not be met. But rather than redouble efforts, efforts that have arguably been lacklustre anyway, he chooses to whine, and argue that the targets be withdrawn completely. Aquilina seems to forget that he has some agency too, and that he doesn't have to just sit back and hope that the demand magically appears. 

My feeling is that he (and GM) never really had any intentions of trying to achieve the targets, and was just waiting for a backlash like Trump has engineered to save him from the trouble of even going through the motions. Change is hard, and hard is to be avoided if at all possible.

This is just another environmental initiative that is suffering a perilous set-back in recent months, as the Trump effect takes hold here too. From "postponed" battery plant investments to increased interest and activity in fossil fuel pipelines, LNG plants, etc, there has been a marked pull-back from all things environmental. It pains me to imagine how things might have been right now had Trump lost that election.

Industry Minister Melanie Joly has recently announced that the federal government will bring back the EV incentive program (a $5,000 rebate for EVs and $2,500 for hybrids), but it's hard to see how much effect that will have in a climate [sic] where industry, individuals and governments seem to be looking for any excuses not to make the needed changes.