Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith.

I am rising today on this motion because I will not stand here and let the “new” government deceive Canadians any longer. This so-called plan props up monopolies and makes life more unaffordable for Canadians under the guise of saving carbon emissions. This ban on gas-powered vehicles is exactly that. I must call out the Liberal hypocrisy. The government has not met even one of its environmental targets in this last decade, yet it has the nerve to keep imposing its unaffordable, ineffective climate agenda on Canadians.

Tonight, I want to cover three things: how the bill is in fact not sustainable or environmentally friendly; how it makes life in Canada even more unaffordable; and lastly, how this is classic Liberal lying and, ultimately, another broken promise. Starting next year, the Liberals will be rolling out a zero-emission vehicle mandate that will become more extreme over the years. By 2026, automakers and importers will be forced to ensure that 20% of their vehicle sales are zero-emission. That target jumps to 60% by 2030 and 100% by 2035. Within just a decade, sales of gas-powered vehicles will be banned entirely.

While the Liberals lecture the rest of Canadians from their elitist circles, they seem to forget that Canadians do not like what they have done and that EVs simply do not work everywhere. In fact, in some areas, like my community, there is no facility to safely recycle the batteries that EVs use. According to the Canadian Automobile Association, electric vehicles can lose up to 40% of their battery life in weather from -7°C to -15°C. For northern British Columbians, starting an electric vehicle in winter is basically impossible.

Should this mandate stop families from taking their kids to school or hockey practice? What is the government doing? Do the Liberals think that BC Hydro, Ontario hydro and Hydro-Québec are ready to charge tens of millions of EVs every night, all while keeping up with the growing residential and industrial demands? I will answer that. They are simply not ready for that.

To make matters worse, the government continually blocks pipelines and energy projects across the country to line the pockets of foreign dictators. Why can it not admit that exporting foreign oil emits more carbon emissions than using clean Canadian energy? It would be far more affordable for Canadians if the government focused on developing our own natural resources. It should let Canadians work in pipeline and LNG programs, let them drive Canadian-made vehicles and let them heat their homes and start their cars with Canadian energy. Instead, the government is restricting consumer choice, driving up costs and punishing working families with policies like prioritizing ideology over affordability.

This is not a climate plan; this is a control plan, a Trojan Horse for a top-down mandate dressed up in green buzzwords. It will prop up monopolies, kneecap working Canadians and hand more power to the Liberals while pretending to save the planet. It will not just make cars more unaffordable. It will drive prices through the roof, shut down auto plants and send thousands of Canadian jobs straight to the U.S. economy.

A study in the Canadian Journal of Economics found that this mandate will eliminate 38,000 Canadian auto sector jobs and cost our economy up to $138.7 billion. However, it is not just the auto sector that is at risk. It is the everyday Canadians who work in rural areas and rely on trucks, long commutes and reliable vehicles just to get to work. This mandate hits the very people who keep our resource industry running, like forestry, fishing, mining, and oil and gas. They will be the ones who will end up paying the price.

Liberals' policies are already making life much harder for Canadians, especially those in resource sectors, so why are they targeting them again? Let us not forget that life is already very much a struggle for the everyday Canadian. Think about the single mom who must drive her kids from school and day care to hockey practice, or the senior in a rural community who just wants to commute to their medical appointment. Do the Liberals really think the average Canadian can pay for a brand-new electric vehicle? Under their mandate, every year the Liberals crank up their EV quota, manufacturers will not keep up because they will be forced to buy credits that cost up to $20,000. Guess who gets stuck with that bill in the end. It is Canadians.

The Liberals act like the cost vanishes into thin air, but it all gets passed down to the Canadian consumer. For most Canadians, a reliable gas-powered car is not a luxury but a lifeline. This mandate would push the very people who can afford it the least. The Liberals want to force top-down decisions, take away choices from hard-working Canadians and call it “green” while ignoring the damaging impacts. It is time to bring some common sense back to the government. No one should be told what kind of car they need to drive. Conservatives, especially, will not force Canadians to buy a vehicle they do not want, cannot afford and cannot count on.

It is not just Conservatives raising concerns. Even former Liberal MPs are pushing back on the new government's electric vehicle mandate. Former Liberal MP Dan McTeague also said this is the wrong policy for Canada. The truth is that the Liberals think they know better than the average Canadian. The government is not interested in choice but wants to dictate how Canadians live, what they drive and how they spend their money. Conservatives believe in something different. We believe in freedom, practicality and respecting our Canadian workers.

EVs are great for many families, who always should be free to purchase the vehicle of their choice. For many Canadians who live in cold environments or travel long distances, they are practically useless, especially without the infrastructure to power them. That is why the Conservatives have put forward a motion to protect Canadians' right to choose in their everyday lives. Soon this House will have a choice: Will it vote in favour of the Conservative motion that calls on the Liberal government to immediately end the ban on gas-powered vehicles, or will it take away the choice for Canadians for generations to come?

I urge my colleagues to vote in good conscience for the Conservative motion, not just because it makes sense economically or environmentally but because it defends something even more fundamental: our right to choose what to do with our lives. At its core, this motion is about freedom and personal choice, values that built this country and must never be taken for granted.

Canadians were promised leadership, but instead they got bureaucracy. They were promised jobs, but instead they got pink slips. They were promised a choice, but instead they are being told exactly what to drive. Canadians were promised change, but instead they received empty slogans and rising costs. I guess it is not elbows up. I guess it is elbows down.

Sukhman Gill