Ottawa warns Sask. that EV `fairness' tax sends a bad signal
The federal environment minister is urging Saskatchewan to rethink its new electric vehicle fee in a letter penned to Premier Scott Moe.
Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said he wished to raise his “concern” about the decision, announced in the provincial budget last week. The fee will cost electric vehicle owners $150 per year. The provincial government said it will ensure “tax fairness” with other drivers, who pay a gas tax to support highway maintenance.
Wilkinson noted transport accounts for about a quarter of Canada's emissions of greenhouse gases. In his view, the fee, which he called a tax, sends the wrong signal.
“We would hope that the Saskatchewan Party — a conservative party — understands the importance of market signals,” Wilkinson wrote.
He listed the incentives and investments Ottawa has put in place to encourage electric vehicle use. Saskatchewan has no such policies, nor does it have any strategy for reducing emissions in the transport sector.
“Internal combustion engine vehicles have been around for 100 years, but the world is shifting around us and zero-emission vehicles are the way forward,” Wilkinson added.
He also argued that Saskatchewan could easily benefit from the transition to electric vehicles through the “significant potential in its mining sector to provide key metals and minerals.” He said investors will be looking to put their money into jurisdictions that support the future of electric vehicles.
“This provincial tax on electric vehicles does not benefit the climate, consumers or workers,” Wilkinson continued. “In fact, it works at cross purposes to a concerted federal effort, working with provinces and territories, to help make a seamless transition to the cleaner economy of the 21st century.”
Moe shared his response to Wilkinson, outlined in a letter that was also addressed to the federal transport minister. He said the expected shift to electric vehicles is precisely the reason Saskatchewan is opting to impose the fee.
“As private and commercial vehicles make this shift, maintenance of our road system must also remain sustainable,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, highways and road systems do not maintain themselves.”
He noted that 19 U.S. states have implemented similar fees, though some, including California, have much higher rates of EV ownership.
Electric vehicle owner groups have argued that the province's $150 fee is coming far too early, when the technology is just starting to make a dent in Saskatchewan's car market. Matthew Pointer, president of the Saskatchewan Electrical Vehicles Association, agreed that the province now has the worst regulatory environment for EVS in the country.
Wilkinson signed off on his letter “respectfully,” but he and Moe occasionally have been at each other's throats over the climate file. At the height of their dispute over carbon pricing, Wilkinson said Moe sounded like a climate skeptic.
Moe later responded that “nothing could be further from the truth.” He said Wilkinson has “no respect for the constitution,” given his insistence to price carbon in some form even if Ottawa lost the carbon tax reference case before the Supreme Court of Canada.
Indeed, Moe appeared to get another dig at Wilkinson into his letter on Thursday.
“We appreciate your newfound concern about Saskatchewan's economy,” he wrote to the two federal ministers. “Perhaps this creates an opportunity for reflection upon policies brought in by your federal government that have caused significant instability for investment attraction, while imposing untenable economic and regulatory restraints on our wealth generating industries.”
He added that Saskatchewan is prepared to collaborate on climate, “whether or not this collaborative effort has been returned.”
Despite the letters, Moe later told the Leader-post that he has a “relatively good” relationship with Wilkinson, who originally is from Saskatchewan and who worked with the Roy Romanow government.
“So I was quite surprised to see a letter from this expat Saskatchewan NDPER that sent the letter to the Saskatchewan government indicating that they didn't like the fact that we were being fair with the charge that we were putting on electric vehicles,” Moe said.