Less Than 5 Percent of Newly Purchased Vehicles by Feds Were Electric: Records

An electric vehicle is charged in Ottawa on July 13, 2022. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

Of nearly 3,000 newly purchased vehicles by Canada’s federal departments and agencies in the last two years, less than 5 percent were electric, records show.

In a recently-tabled Inquiry of Ministry, the Liberal cabinet told Parliament that out of the 2,899 vehicles bought by federal departments and agencies in the past two years, 137 were electric.

The majority had gas and diesel engines, and 782 were hybrids, according to Blacklock’s Reporter, who obtained the records.

The inquiry was requested by Conservative MP Jamie Schmale, who asked: “With regard to purchases of vehicles by the government since January 1, 2020, what was the total number and value of vehicles purchased? And what are details of each purchase?”

Records showed government departments and agencies spent $120.3 million on the new vehicles, and the 2,899 purchases did not include patrol cars for the RCMP, military vehicles, or trucks and vans for the post office.

Records also showed Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s department bought 122 vehicles at $5.6 million—with none being electric. The makes were mostly Ford and Chevrolet pickups. Thirty-four of the new purchases were hybrids.

Proposed Regulations

The Liberal government mandated last June that “all new light-duty cars and passenger trucks sales [are] to be zero-emission by 2035.”

On Dec. 21, Guilbeault announced that at least 20 percent of all passenger cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks sold in Canada in 2026 will need to run on electricity under new regulations proposed by the government.

The proposed regulations also require at least 60 percent of the mentioned vehicles to be zero-emission by 2030, followed by 100 percent by 2035.

“Zero-emission vehicles are where the rubber hits the road for cost-conscious Canadians who want to help the environment while getting off the roller-coaster of high gasoline prices,” said Guilbeault in a news release Wednesday.

According to the records obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter, Parks Canada, an agency under Guilbeault’s supervision, bought 199 vehicles costing $7,671,336, with only 25 of them electric, since January 2020.

The Privy Council Office, which supports the prime minister and Cabinet, spent $345,929 on seven new vehicles, mainly Ford vans and SUVs, of which none were electric.

The Department of Natural Resources, headed by Minister Jonathan Wilkinson who took the helm last December, got itself 31 new vehicles by spending $1.3 million. Three were electric.

While the Department of Industry spent $69,900 on a Tesla sedan, the Department of Public Works spent $3 million on 72 new vehicles, according to the records. Of the newly acquired vehicles by Public Works, two were electric—a $62,658 Chevrolet Blazer and $76,583 Ford F-150 pickup.