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Unifor has submitted the union’s recommendations to Environment and Climate Change Canada, as part of the federal government’s consultation process on potential interim measures to help meet its stated target of 100% Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) light duty car sales in Canada by 2035.
“We support the federal ZEV mandate as one tool to cut road transport carbon emissions, but acknowledge that it can only be effective if matched with significant new consumer demand-side incentives and tied to a forward-looking industrial growth strategy,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor National President. “What Unifor wants to see is more aggressive consumer incentives, investment in infrastructure, and a plan for job growth and retention.”
The union supports Canada meeting greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and in its submission, the union argues that any sales mandate must coincide with Canada’s domestic production timetable. Unifor cautions that the pace of Canada’s ambitious sales mandate must not put domestic facilities and parts suppliers at a competitive disadvantage to those in other jurisdictions.
The union believes that any effective supply-side policy to drive consumers to purchase ZEV’s must also come with several ‘demand-side’ policies that support and motivate ZEV adoption. The submission recommends increasing rebates, adding an income tested subsidy, and trade in incentives.
Governments must set targets for ZEVs, powertrains and other critical parts production, negotiate production covenants with automakers, require ZEV manufacturers to source parts from suppliers who recognize international labour standards, and provide additional ZEV sales credit to automakers with established production capacity in Canada.
You can download Unifor’s submission to ECCC here.
