Zero credibility

Vincent J. Curtis

12 July 21

RE: 21. Do Liberals have a plan for zero emission vehicles? Toronto Star editorial of 12 July

I just completed a driving trip from Calgary to Hamilton and return.  Averaging 800 km per day, I stayed overnight in Wolseley, SK, Dryden, ON, Marathon, Parry Sound, and Hamilton.  On the return, Bruce Mines, just east of Sault Ste Marie served to-die-for lake fish at the Bobbers restaurant.  Nipigon, with its picturesque new bridge over the Nipigon River, was the next stop.  Finally, after stopping at Quetico Provincial Park on Highway 11, I stayed at Kenora for rest and Walleye fish and chips from Lake of the Woods.

Road construction around Winnipeg was horrible, and, turning south of the Trans-Canada Highway at Virden, I stayed the night in Carnduff, SK, for a visit to a granddaughter.  The pickup trucks were lined up so neatly at the local diner at breakfast - they looked like so many cattle at a feed trough.

Next stop was Swift Current, SK, and finally, home.  You enjoy a lot of beautiful Canada when you drive through her.  Average fuel economy was 5.4 L/100 km.

This trip would be impossible today with electric vehicles.  They can’t get close to 800 km in a day, and the time it takes to safely recharged can’t be improved much.

The Spectator is right at wonder at Trudeau’s deadline to eliminate fuelled vehicles.  He has once again set a goal so far into the future he leaves it up to others for its success, or, more likely, failure.  But he gets the glory today.  And that’s the point.

He has no plan to deal with the cost of electric vehicles, which today are heavily subsidized, and there is a big difference in cost between a Ford Focus at $20,000 and a Tesla at 75,000 – its actual cost before subsidies.  He has no plan to deal with the loss of revenue from all the gas and fuel taxes presently on fossil fuels.  But until the media start asking questions on these and similar topics, Prime Minster Lightweight gets to skate.

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