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House Hansard - 52

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 4, 2022 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 52 - Apr/4/22
Mr. Glen Motz
  • Apr/4/22 1:24:34 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-8 
Madam Speaker, I hope to take the entire minute. I thank my friend for his question. While we disagree on many fronts, I have always appreciated his approach and the depth of his questions and I know he cares deeply about his constituents. It is important to recognize that in a fair market, we would hope that companies would be responsible to the consumer. We have seen in many different sectors, and not just in the energy sector, that this is not always the case. I do not have an easy solution to that issue. It is exacerbated by the government continuing to raise taxes at all levels, including excise taxes and carbon taxes on the price of fuel. With respect to the transition to electric, I find it difficult when I see electricity generators being operated by diesel in many vehicle charging stations across the country. They are diesel-powered electricity generators. I find that ironic, quite honestly. In my own riding, I could not travel across my riding in an electric vehicle without having to charge it a number of times if I wanted to get back home in the same day. I—
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Context: House Hansard - 52 - Apr/4/22
Mr. Dan Albas (Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, CPC)
  • Apr/4/22 6:05:49 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am glad the member talked about and actually read the report by the Standing Committee on Finance. Some of the other speakers obviously spoke for 20 minutes without any reference to what was in the report. On recommendation 191, the member and I will maybe debate a bit and disagree on that recommendation, which is for infrastructure for electric vehicles. I have spoken with the industry, which has said there is a problem in the Weights and Measures Act that makes it difficult for the market itself to function. Right now, when people plug in their electric vehicles, if it is fast charger that draws more out, they have to charge the same amount that they would for someone who has a regular charger and charges by the minute. The problem is that we cannot see private investment and markets begin to appear, so the government has to continue to pay for this infrastructure. Elon Musk has said publicly that there is enough adoption of electric vehicles that the infrastructure can pay for itself. Does the member believe that, rather than borrowing those scarce tax dollars to pay for something, because we are borrowing the money right now, why does the government not actually fix it and let the market function and provide that infrastructure, like it does with regular vehicles?
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