“My car, my choice,” says Duhaime, opposed to the goal of zero polluting vehicles by 2035

Photo: Karoline Boucher La Presse canadienne Le chef conservateur Éric Duhaime en conférence de presse

When it comes to electrification, it’s “my car, my choice,” says Éric Duhaime, who officially opposed Quebec’s regulation on Tuesday that aims to ban the sale of new gasoline vehicles in 2035.

At a press conference in Quebec City, the leader of the Quebec Conservative Party (PCQ) released the brief he will submit to the Ministry of the Environment as part of the consultations surrounding the draft regulation “providing for certain prohibitions with respect to motor vehicles and combustion engines.” Tabled in July, it aims to curb the marketing of gasoline or hybrid cars as of January 1, 2035.

“It's unrealistic and it would be irresponsible to go down that path,” insisted Mr. Duhaime, who was accompanied by the former Conservative leader and party critic for the economy, Adrien Pouliot.

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To support his argument, Mr. Duhaime launched a website on Tuesday to collect signatures from those opposed to the regulation. Its name: “My car, my choice.”

The petition, which will be sent to the Ministry of the Environment next week along with the Conservative brief, argues in particular that “there is a significant lack of charging stations, especially in the regions of Quebec,” and that “demand for electric vehicles is decreasing internationally.” Wanting all new vehicles on the roads in 2035 to be electric therefore becomes “idyllic,” according to the PCQ.

“Last week, I was in Bellechasse at a factory. The owner went to show me the parking lot of his hundred employees and said to me: ‘Eric, look at the cars that are here. Find me one that is the average price of an electric vehicle. There are none. How are my employees going to come to work?” said Mr. Duhaime, who proposes that the market, and not the State, decide the composition of the vehicle fleet.

According to Transport Canada data, 28.3% of cars sold in Quebec during the first quarter of 2024 were zero-emission vehicles. In March, demand for new electric vehicles stood at more than 79,000 for the 2023-2024 year, compared to about 32,000 for the entire 2022-2023 year.

The Legault government's draft regulation will still allow Quebecers who wish to do so to sell their used combustion vehicles. Quebec also plans to reassess “the maturity of the market” around 2030, “in order to allow for possible adjustments.”

The government has set itself the goal of putting two million electric vehicles on the roads by 2030. Quebec’s legislative framework also requires car manufacturers to accumulate carbon credits by selling a certain percentage of zero-emission vehicles.

Buyers of electric cars also benefit from a purchase subsidy, called “Roulez vert,” but it will be gradually eliminated by 2027.