Each of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's 37 cabinet ministers has recently received a new mandate letter, letting them know what the PM expects them to do with their portfolio going forward. In the letters are some of the government's plans to add thousands of EV charging stations, zero-emissions vehicle targets, new incentives, and other EV-friendly moves.
The charging infrastructure call was in the letter to Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O'Regan. Trudeau's mandate included the installation of up to 5,000 additional EV charging stations along "the Trans-Canada Highway and other major road networks and in Canada’s urban and rural areas." The letter also called for the Minister to work with other departments to create an incentive for zero-emissions homes, which could include at-home charging stations.
In his letter to Minister of Transport Marc Garneau, Trudeau restated the government's desire to work toward a light-duty zero-emission vehicle target of 10 percent of sales by 2025, 30 percent by 2030, and 100 percent by 2040. The letter also called for working with VIA Rail to increase high-frequency rail and to make it cheaper and easier to use the train to visit our national parks.
To Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Navdeep Bains, the PM mandated an expansion of current zero-emission vehicle incentives by adding a 10 percent rebate on used models, up to a maximum incentive of $2,000. Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Catherine McKenna was mandated to work with the provinces and territories to help school boards and municipalities add 5,000 zero-emission buses to their fleets over the next five years.
