As Ontario’s provincial election takes shape the four main parties are releasing their platforms pledges on electric vehicle and charging infrastructure rebates and policies around the auto industry
With campaign season almost in full swing for the upcoming 2022 election in Ontario, each of the four major parties are in the process of releasing their platforms.
Party leaders from left to right Steven Del Duca, Mike Schreiner, Andrea Horwath, Doug Ford.
With campaign season almost in full swing for the upcoming 2022 election in Ontario, each of the four major parties are in the process of releasing their platforms. One of the major planks for each are program and policy commitments to transition Ontario to zero-emission mobility — both in terms of zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) adoption and developing clean auto manufacturing.
To help readers understand the policy alternatives being presented to Ontario voters, Electric Autonomy Canada has compiled the transportation-related commitments from the provincial Conservative, Liberal, NDP and Green parties as related to ZEVs, charging infrastructure, hydrogen, manufacturing and public transit.
The information presented below comes from the official party platforms unless otherwise cited, and reflects the campaign promises to date.
After winning the provincial election in 2018, Ontario’s Progressive Conservative party leader, Doug Ford, scrapped the province’s EV purchase incentive and cancelled or, in some cases, uninstalled several EV charging stations. But more recently, in particular the first half of 2022, the Conservative government went on an investment blitz to bolster and attract EV manufacturing to the province’s auto sector. That thrust now forms the core of the party’s election platform.
Their investments include:
However, Premier Ford continues to dismiss the idea of relaunching an electric vehicle incentives program in the province. It’s been a while since he last described rebates as subsidies “for millionaires,” but he and his government have so far stood firm on that position heading into the campaign.
In the provincial government’s 2022 budget, released April 28, which doubles as the party’s platform (it won’t be passed before the election), the Ontario Conservatives remain focused on making Ontario a major EV and battery manufacturing hub.
“In November 2021, Ontario announced Phase 2 of Driving Prosperity: The Future of Ontario’s Automotive Sector, the government’s plan to build the next generation of vehicles in Ontario by securing auto production mandates to build electric and hybrid vehicles. The government will also help transform the supply chain by supporting the exploration, mining and production of critical minerals to create a domestic battery ecosystem and encourage research and development,” reads the budget, in part.
The party plans to advance the province’s critical mineral strategy in a five-year roadmap that, it says, will strengthen Ontario’s position as a global leader in supplying minerals to better support EV and battery supply chains.
The Conservatives are also promising to invest $1 billion to build critical infrastructure, such as all-season roads, to facilitate access to the mineral-rich area in the Ring of Fire and are investing $2 million in 2022–23 and $3 million in 2023–24 to create a Critical Minerals Innovation Fund to help industry research better ways to extract and process critical minerals.
If the Ontario Liberal Party, led by Steven Del Duca, ends up returning to power in the 2022 election, it is promise to bring back the provincial incentive program for EVs, which the Ford government scrapped in 2018.
Under the previous Liberal government, led by Kathleen Wynne from 2013 to 2018, Ontario had an EV rebate program that provided up to $14,000 to buy an electric car, up to a purchase price cap of $150,000 and $1,000 to install a home charger.
This time around, the Del Duca Liberals are proposing the following:
For public transit users, Del Duca announced in May the Liberals are making a “buck-a-ride” promise to cut transit fares to $1 per ride until 2024 on all municipal lines, as well as Go Transit and Ontario Northland service.
The Liberals have yet to release a fully costed platform detailing how these promises will be paid for, but one is expected in the coming days.
As part of its election platform, leader Andrea Horwath’s Ontario New Democratic Party revealed a zero-emission vehicle strategy that requires all new cars and trucks sold in Ontario to be zero emissions by 2035 (in line with the federal mandate), as well as help municipalities electrify their transit fleets by 2040.
The key highlights of its platform include:
So far the NDP is the only party to release its fully costed, standalone election platform, with the other parties choosing to announce just select elements of their plans.
So far, the Green Party of Ontario, led by Mike Schreiner, has the province’s most ambitious EV-related policy platform.
In an effort to help EVs become more affordable, the party is offering to:
The party also revealed a Roadmap to Net-Zero: The Ontario Greens’ Climate and Environmental Plan, where they outline plans to support more charging infrastructure installation, which includes:
And finally, as part of their Zero-carbon Transportation Plan, the party will:
In contrast to previous elections when zero-emission vehicles and “green” efforts were considered fringe or even frivolous issues, this year’s provincial election in Ontario is cementing the transition to zero-emission mobility as a core pillar in government election platforms.
In an election coming in the midst of a global pandemic, a war and an economic recovery totalling hundreds of billions of dollars in just Ontario alone, the significance of ZEVs remaining at the fore of voters’ and elected officials’ minds is not missed.
In one month when voters head to the polls on June 2, no matter which candidate they tick the ballot for it is, more than any previous Ontario election, a vote for sustainability, climate and a transition to zero-emission mobility.