The federal government is not closing the door to the request of the company Lion Electric, which wants Ottawa to change its criteria for calls for tenders for the purchase of vehicles in order to prioritize local products and “specially designed to be electrical”.
On Thursday morning, federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault stopped at the Lion assembly plant in Saint-Jérôme to meet with the bus manufacturer’s chief operating officer. electric trucks, Yannick Poulin, and discuss the climate plan announced on March 29.
Ottawa wants 35% of all medium and heavy-duty vehicles sold by 2030 to be zero-emission vehicles, and the government plans to invest nearly $550 million over the next four years in an emissions incentive program. purchase of zero-emission commercial vehicles.
For Mr. Poulin’s company, the federal Emissions Reduction Plan for 2030, “it’s candy” and “it’s extremely advantageous”. “Of course it’s very, very positive, and we’re talking about more local employment,” said the businessman.
Regulate tenders
Although Lion Electric is pleased with Ottawa’s new climate plan, the company is asking the government to implement regulations in tenders or financial assistance programs to force assembly in Canada.
The manufacturer also wants the government to “promote vehicles specifically designed to be electric”.
Asked about the nature of the response, positive or negative, that Ottawa will give to the call from the Saint-Jérôme company, Minister Guilbeault mentioned that his government was studying the question. “Work is currently underway with Minister Filomena Tassi, who is the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, as well as several of my colleagues so that the federal government actually adopts a procurement policy responsible both socially and environmentally. »
Some countries have adopted criteria favoring local assembly, such as the Buy American Act in the United States. This law has also forced the company Lion Electric to assemble the vehicles ordered in the United States in its plant in Illinois, which should start up this year.