We must apply “the same recipe” as the fight against smoking to advertisements on polluting vehicles, says the organization Équiterre, which calls in a brief for a ban on all forms of promotion on gasoline-powered automobiles by 2030.
“We’re here,” says Équiterre sustainable mobility analyst Anne-Catherine Pilon bluntly in an interview. In a report published this Tuesday, his group recommends in particular that Quebec and Ottawa “create a Canadian Code on automobile advertising” which would make the display of information relating to impacts on safety and the environment mandatory.
For meme Pilon, “regulating advertising is the next logical step if we want to be consistent with our climate targets”. “There is reason to draw inspiration from the fight against tobacco to do this. We have reduced the number of smokers enormously, but we are currently letting the automobile industry manage itself and the number of vehicles continues to grow constantly. »
She calls for “starting recognizing the increase in the number of vehicles as a public health issue”. “It takes a strong political message. Afterwards, gradually, it could be to include promotional messages on sustainable mobility in automobile advertisements, as France has done. »
On French territory, the integration of content encouraging active mobility has been mandatory since March 2022 for all car advertising.
“For short journeys, choose walking or cycling”, “Consider carpooling” or “On a daily basis, take public transport” are all slogans which have already been used by public authorities in France, the more often with the hashtag #MoveLessPollute.
Public funds… without a car
Ultimately, Équiterre also suggests “prohibiting any visual representation of vehicles in events financed by public funds”.
“For example, in a festival that the government supports, we should not see a big GMC poster next to the government logo. This legitimizes the thing and we are far from the exemplary nature of the State,” judges Mme Pestle.
“When an institution like Parks Canada holds a competition with a Subaru SUV, for us, it is contradictory with the government message to reduce the number of cars on our roads,” she adds, in reference to a program implemented set up last year which allowed you to win an entry card to several parks with the purchase of a car from the Japanese manufacturer.
Ultimately, the environmental group is calling for a total ban on the advertising of gasoline-powered cars by 2030, that is, five years before the time when the sale of new gasoline-powered cars will be banned in Quebec and Canada, in 2035. “For vehicles electric, advertising could continue, but be subject to the same requirements for promoting sustainable mobility,” concludes Anne-Catherine Pilon.