In promotion of the latest federal budget, International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen joined Nickel Belt Liberal MP Marc Serré for a media conference in Chelmsford on April 25.
The event was held at The Belanger Ford Lincoln Centre Ltd., where the two politicians centred much of their respective speeches on battery-electric vehicles.
There were no announcements made during the event, with the two Liberals using their time to share points from the federal government’s latest budget, called “Budget 2024: Fairness for Every Generation.”
The budget includes investments in electric vehicles, including a 10-per-cent tax credit on the cost of buildings used in key segments of the electric vehicle supply chain, $607.9 million for Transport Canada to top-up incentives for the zero-emissions vehicle program and ongoing funding for electric-vehicle charging stations.
On this point, Serré criticized Premier Doug Ford for not dong more to encourage battery-electric vehicle sales, including a lack of tax credits to purchase vehicles and funding for charging stations.
“We have to also partner and find ways to ensure the provincial government comes on board,” he said. “We all know that the first day of the Ford government, they cancelled the EV charging station fund, so the federal government was on the hook 100 per cent building that infrastructure.”
Hussen also took note of an announcement made in Alliston, Ont., earlier in the day in which Honda Canada pledged a $15-billion boost for electric vehicle production, including $5 billion of public funds between the federal and provincial governments. Honda is slated to build a new electric vehicle battery plant next to their assembly plant, which will be retooled to produce fully electric vehicles.
“This will position all of us, including the Greater Sudbury area, to reap the benefits of the rewards of the electric vehicle revolution,” Hussen said, making reference to the region’s critical minerals used in electric vehicle batteries.
“There is a reason I wanted to make this announcement here today with you, and it’s because the future of electric vehicles looks bright right here in the Greater Sudbury area.”
Given the morning’s news, why host Thursday’s media conference at a Ford dealership?
Ford is also investing in battery-electric vehicles, Serré said, including a $1.8-billion battery-electric vehicle plant in Oakville, which at the latest update was pushed back to 2027.
Bellanger has been around for 53 years, and was also one of the first dealerships in Greater Sudbury to install electric-vehicle charging stations, Serré added.
“Copper, nickel, lithium — all these components will come from Northern Ontario to feed the manufacturing in southern Ontario,” he said.
Thursday’s media event found electric Ford vehicles and students from École Secondaire Catholique Champlain serve as a backdrop to Hussen and Serré’s speeches.
The students didn’t speak during the event, but both Serré and Hussen spoke on their behalf.
“They’re looking for the future, they’re looking at the environment and they’re telling us we have to do better,” Serré said. “We have to do better as a federal government, we have to do better as a provincial government to ensure we protect our lakes and protect our outdoors.”
Referencing the students behind him, Hussen said they “are asking us to continue to work every single day to build a cleaner, safer environment for the next generation. They deserve to live in a Canada, and in a community, that ensures we are protecting the environment, that we are transitioning to renewable energy options and solutions and are also protecting our biodiversity.
“To build that cleaner environment, we have to listen to our young friends to reduce emissions.”
After the Liberals’ speeches, École Secondaire Catholique Champlain co-operative teacher Sherry McAllister told Sudbury.com they were approached by Serré’s office to attend the meeting.
“We weren’t sure what the announcement was going to be,” she said, adding that she lined up students whose post-secondary interests related to such things as engineering and battery-electric vehicles.
Grade 12 student Alexie Poirier said she didn’t know much about the federal budget, but that she appreciated the attention afforded to battery-electric vehicles during Thursday’s media event. She’s interested in pursuing mining engineering and geography.
“If all the information they’re saying about how it’s going to do impact to the environment in the future, then they should definitely be supporting (battery-electric vehicles),” Poirier said.
Fellow Grade 12 student Cheyanne Young is pursuing power engineering and post-graduate environmental studies, and said that what she heard was ”pretty positive,” and that she liked the emphasis they placed on the environment.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
