Poilievre calls Carney’s pause on EV Mandate a “clumsy retreat”

Poilievre described Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to initiate a 60-day review and pause the Liberal EV mandate as a “clumsy retreat” and a “flip-flop.”

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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre described Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to initiate a 60-day review and pause the Liberal EV mandate as a “clumsy retreat” and a “flip-flop.”

Carney announced in Mississauga Friday, among other measures, that he would be pausing the rollout of the Liberal’s incremental ban on the sale of new diesel and gas vehicles, set to start next year.

The policy would have forced 20 per cent of new vehicles sold in 2026 to be electric, rising to 60 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035.

During a press conference in Ottawa, Poilievre said the pause showed that Carney had “finally admitted the Conservatives were right.”

“Today he’s flip flopped after being a passionate advocate for banning gas powered vehicles, calling for them to be banned by 2030 in his book values, which, by the way, was much more aggressive than Trudeau plan to ban them by 2035,” Poilievre said during the press conference.

“But he’s doing a clumsy retreat, saying that he’s going to delay this mandate, so now businesses who would otherwise consider investing in auto making here in Canada will have to put that investment on hold while Mark Carney dithers for another year to try and figure out how he can ban people from putting gas and diesel in their trucks and cars.”

Asked how Canada could lower emissions without climate policies like EV rebates, Poilievre said the country should instead become an energy powerhouse.

“We should export our clean energy to the world. The National Bank showed that if we exported our natural gas to supply India with half of its future electricity needs, it would displace 2.5 billion tons of greenhouse gasses, which is equal to the three years of emissions in the entire Canadian economy,” Poilievre said.

A study by the Fraser Institute, released in May, found that if Canada doubled it’s LNG and sold the new LNG to Asia, Canada could replace much of Asia’s coal-powered energy, which generates nearly twice the greenhouse gas emissions as natural gas for the same amount of electricity. This would be the equivalent of taking “137 million cars off the road annually.”

“My approach for Mr. Carney is very different. He believes in energy poverty. I believe in energy abundance. He believes in taxing energy. I believe in unleashing energy,” Poilievre said. “He believes in raising costs I believe in bringing them down, and that is a big debate, we’re going to have and I believe that Canadians will choose wisely.”

A Leger poll commissioned by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation found that 54 per cent of Canadians were opposed to the federal ban on new gas and diesel vehicle sales by 2035. Just 36 per cent supported the ban, while 10 per cent said they were unsure.

Among those with a clear opinion, 60 per cent oppose the ban on new gas and diesel vehicles.

A CTF news release of the poll noted that the federal government has already spent $31.4 billion for subsidies for battery factories and the electric vehicle supply chain, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

“Canadians want the government to end the ban on the sale of new gas and diesel vehicles; they don’t need the government wasting more time reviewing this costly taxpayer boondoggle,” Franco Terrazzano, the CTF federal director, told True North. “Canadians can’t afford the higher tax and power bills to pay for all the subsidies, charging stations, power plants and transmission lines this ban will require.