«

»

Print this Post

Elites not giving us freedom of choice regarding electric vehicles

March 2022

In a free country, one that has a free-market economy, businesses are able to sell anything they want unless its deemed illegal or unsafe. Consumers are free to buy anything they want that is legal for purchase and meets safety standards. Of course, safe and legal are sometimes subjective terms.

Cigarettes are a known health hazard, yet the government still allows for them to be sold. Cigarettes that are manufactured or sold on First Nations reserves must only be sold to Indigenous people, as they are tax exempt, as opposed to those sold off First Nations territories.

When it comes to the type of automobiles that are sold to Canadians, Justin Trudeau and his “climate emergency” devotees are telling automobile manufactures that after 2035, they cannot sell vehicles that have an internal combustion engine. I personally find this unacceptable. What happened to freedom of choice? What happened to the market will dictate what should be sold?

Auto manufacturers, like any business, will only produce and sell what they believe will make them a profit. Sure, governments are free to impose regulations prohibiting the sale of things, like the so-called “assault rifles” that Trudeau’s government banned in Canada last year, but the same argument for prohibiting certain types of firearms doesn’t hold when it comes to what powers motor vehicles.

Yes, sometimes we find a better product than the one we used before, and find better ways of manufacturing things available for sale. We found a better option to the horse and buggy, that being the car, but we didn’t ban the horse and buggy. Besides Mennonites, anyone who wishes to use a horse and buggy to get around, can still do just that, unless prohibited by a local by-law.

I’m not saying that electric vehicles are better or worse than those powered by an internal combustion engine. Electric vehicles certainly do have some advantages and the technology will only get better in the future, but as I’ve mentioned in previous columns, there are some serious drawbacks to electric vehicles as they exist today, both environmental and practical.

How about giving people and manufacturers a choice to produce and buy electric vehicles or not? Of course, when I say choice, I mean a real choice. If people really wanted to buy electric vehicles, they would do it, without the use of mandates that take away practical and affordable alternatives. Most electric cars are still too expensive for the average Canadian, so there’s that problem. There are some who will proudly crow that by driving an electric vehicle, they can avoid paying the high gas prices we are currently seeing. Yeah, but if you are having trouble paying for gasoline at the pumps, how is buying an E/V, one that can easily go well over $50, 000 for a lower-end model, going to help with the monthly budget?

Despite what the “climate emergency” crowd will claim, the world is not transitioning off oil; maybe some day, but not now.

Also read:

**************************************************************************

Re: Trudeau’s EV sales quotas are unrealistic (Toronto Sun Editorial, 28 December): How about giving people and manufacturers a choice to produce and buy electric vehicles or not? Of course, when I say choice, I mean a real choice. If people really wanted to buy electric vehicles, they would do it, without the use of mandates that take away practical and affordable alternatives. Most electric cars are still too expensive for the average Canadian, so there’s that problem. There are some who will proudly crow that by driving an electric vehicle, they can avoid paying the high gas prices we are currently seeing. Yeah, but if you are having trouble paying for gasoline at the pumps, how is buying an E/V, one that can easily go well over $50, 000 for a lower-end model, going to help with the monthly budget?

Sources: https://torontosun.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-trudeaus-ev-sales-quotas-are-unrealistic, https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2022/12/21/canada-moves-to-mandate-electric-vehicle-sales-starting-in-2025/#.Y60-7nbMKUm.

About the author

Bruce Forsyth

Bruce Forsyth served in the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve for 13 years (1987-2000). He served with units in Toronto, Hamilton & Windsor and worked or trained at CFB Esquimalt, CFB Halifax, CFB Petawawa, CFB Kingston, CFB Toronto, Camp Borden, The Burwash Training Area and LFCA Training Centre Meaford.

Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/elites-not-giving-us-freedom-of-choice-regarding-electric-vehicles/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>