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This is unkind and also factually wrong. Canada literally has an EV mandate: https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transportation/innovative-technologies/zero-emission-

This is unkind and also factually wrong. Canada literally has an EV mandate: https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transportation/innovative-technologies/zero-emission-vehicles/canada-s-zero-emission-vehicle-sales-targets https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transportation/innovative-techn... Canada has also worked on developing an EV industry: https://electricautonomy.ca/ev-supply-chain/manufacturing/2025-10-22/gm-brightdrop-electric-van-production-cami-plant/ https://electricautonomy.ca/ev-supply-chain/manufacturing/20...

wmoxam 1y ago
Developing an EV industry depended on US cooperation. That cooperation is gone since Trump was elected.
- petermcneeley 1y ago
  Canada is not really independent of the USA. The better way to view this is that Canada is like California. This is not a battle between countries but an internal civil conflict within the hegemony. And your reply does not touch on the 'unkind' portion of my comment. Why should those workers suffer more than they already have?
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - cmrdporcupine 1y ago
    No capitalist market country is independent of any other country in the 21st century and for most of the 20th. This isn't saying much, it's just a matter of degrees. Yes, Canada is economically integrated with the US to a massive degree and we're each other's biggest trading partners. But the analogy with California is a totally false one. They are a US state subject to its federal laws and political system. We are not. We maintain political independence, and need to maintain that independence.
    - petermcneeley 1y ago
      'We maintain political independence, and need to maintain that independence.' By allowing EVs from China? You would think if you wanted to be independent you would have your own EV car company. If EVs are the future and Canada cannot make competitive EVs with china this means Canada will not have an auto sector. Given that there are hundreds of thousands of people working in this area it doesnt actually bode well for Canadians. I am actually Canadian this is why I am so familiar with the situation.
      - cmrdporcupine 1y ago
        I think we're in substantial agreement but Canada has this sickness in all sectors which seems to stop us from authoring our own destiny, some of it is cultural but I think the bulk of it is economic. Most investors here don't take risks because they're busy living low-risk parasitical lives off the resource export and real estate industries. I would love a Canadian EV company to exist because I'd love to work there as a software engineer. Got any leads? :-)
        bryanlarsen 1y ago
        I highly doubt they're hiring software engineers, but https://edisonmotors.ca/ https://edisonmotors.ca/ has a promising approach.
        cmrdporcupine 1y ago
        Cool! Good for them!
        petermcneeley 1y ago
        You will guarantee that there is no EV manufacturing in Canada if you allow for wholesale important of offshore EVs. Just as there is no manufacturing of almost anything else within Canada. You are literally advocating for something that is against your own desires.
cmrdporcupine 1y ago
Canada has a toothless EV mandate that is actively undermined by both its own domestic auto industry which on the whole is basically refusing to make them -- and when they do price them only as luxury vehicles. But also by its political right, and at least one of its national newspapers which is continually running anti-EV FUD. Not the least because our second largest sector in the country (after manufacturing) is oil&gas, and the energy sector is the most powerful political-economic block in the country and the source of ideological power & influence in the western half of the country. Similar tensions in the US. There are active disinformation campaigns about EVs running constantly, and if you follow the money it always ends up back at the petroleum sector.
- petermcneeley 1y ago
  Why dont Canadian consumers switch to EVs naturally? Probably because they are more expensive and lack the capacity of existing vehicles. Its not that hard it is simple economics.
  - cmrdporcupine 1y ago
    There is no longer any justification for EVs to be as expensive as they are is the problem. Prices for batteries have plummeted and they're the only expensive component of an electric car so why do we still only see EVs in the luxury vehicle price tier / category? The North American auto industry refuses to produce a low cost EV. Although the Bolt is coming back, so that's good I guess. Too bad it's made in the US so I won't touch it.

wmoxam 1y ago

Developing an EV industry depended on US cooperation. That cooperation is gone since Trump was elected.

petermcneeley 1y ago
Canada is not really independent of the USA. The better way to view this is that Canada is like California. This is not a battle between countries but an internal civil conflict within the hegemony. And your reply does not touch on the 'unkind' portion of my comment. Why should those workers suffer more than they already have?
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- cmrdporcupine 1y ago
  No capitalist market country is independent of any other country in the 21st century and for most of the 20th. This isn't saying much, it's just a matter of degrees. Yes, Canada is economically integrated with the US to a massive degree and we're each other's biggest trading partners. But the analogy with California is a totally false one. They are a US state subject to its federal laws and political system. We are not. We maintain political independence, and need to maintain that independence.
  - petermcneeley 1y ago
    'We maintain political independence, and need to maintain that independence.' By allowing EVs from China? You would think if you wanted to be independent you would have your own EV car company. If EVs are the future and Canada cannot make competitive EVs with china this means Canada will not have an auto sector. Given that there are hundreds of thousands of people working in this area it doesnt actually bode well for Canadians. I am actually Canadian this is why I am so familiar with the situation.
    - cmrdporcupine 1y ago
      I think we're in substantial agreement but Canada has this sickness in all sectors which seems to stop us from authoring our own destiny, some of it is cultural but I think the bulk of it is economic. Most investors here don't take risks because they're busy living low-risk parasitical lives off the resource export and real estate industries. I would love a Canadian EV company to exist because I'd love to work there as a software engineer. Got any leads? :-)
      - bryanlarsen 1y ago
        I highly doubt they're hiring software engineers, but https://edisonmotors.ca/ https://edisonmotors.ca/ has a promising approach.
        cmrdporcupine 1y ago
        Cool! Good for them!
      - petermcneeley 1y ago
        You will guarantee that there is no EV manufacturing in Canada if you allow for wholesale important of offshore EVs. Just as there is no manufacturing of almost anything else within Canada. You are literally advocating for something that is against your own desires.

cmrdporcupine 1y ago

Canada has a toothless EV mandate that is actively undermined by both its own domestic auto industry which on the whole is basically refusing to make them -- and when they do price them only as luxury vehicles. But also by its political right, and at least one of its national newspapers which is continually running anti-EV FUD. Not the least because our second largest sector in the country (after manufacturing) is oil&gas, and the energy sector is the most powerful political-economic block in the country and the source of ideological power & influence in the western half of the country. Similar tensions in the US. There are active disinformation campaigns about EVs running constantly, and if you follow the money it always ends up back at the petroleum sector.

petermcneeley 1y ago
Why dont Canadian consumers switch to EVs naturally? Probably because they are more expensive and lack the capacity of existing vehicles. Its not that hard it is simple economics.
- cmrdporcupine 1y ago
  There is no longer any justification for EVs to be as expensive as they are is the problem. Prices for batteries have plummeted and they're the only expensive component of an electric car so why do we still only see EVs in the luxury vehicle price tier / category? The North American auto industry refuses to produce a low cost EV. Although the Bolt is coming back, so that's good I guess. Too bad it's made in the US so I won't touch it.