Halifax, Nova Scotia — The Canadian government’s plan to ban all new sales of combustion engines by 2035 has raised some questions with the members of the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax.
Although the organization is pleased with the government’s commitment to move away from petrol and diesel, Kelsey Lane, climate coordinator for the Ecology Action Centre, says that they need more information on the steps needed to put the plan into action.
“We’re looking for milestones,” she said. “How exactly are you going to get there? Are you going to implement a zero-emission mandate across the country?”
Not only does there need to be a more concise plan on how to reach the ambitious goal, but Lane says that she feels smaller provinces are getting neglected when it comes to electric vehicles coming into the country.
“Right now, the majority of vehicles are going to Quebec and British Columbia and the reason for that is they have strong provincial policies,” said Lane. “We want to make sure that if there are more vehicles coming into Canada that it just doesn’t go to those two provinces.”
According to one of Ecology Action Centre’s reports, electric vehicle sales made up 3.5 percent in Canada in 2020, but only .03 percent of that was from Nova Scotia.
