By Elishya Perera
MONTRÉAL, Québec (CWBN)_ Canada’s Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson urged for deeper environmental ties with the United States and called for a North American ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles, yesterday (Dec 17).
The Minister noted that Canada and American President-elect Joe Biden’s administration have agreed that zero emission vehicles need to be deployed faster.
Accordingly, Wilkinson said that talks with Washington could cover “what the European countries and Quebec and British Columbia have done, which is to put a date at which they will no longer allow the sale of internal combustion engines.”
While Canada has committed to hit net zero emissions by 2050, the country’s transport sector accounts for 26 per cent of Canada’s emissions.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government last week, announced an increase in the price on Carbon from C$30 a tonne to C$170 by 2030. Moreover, the government has decided that starting 2040, all vehicles sold should produce no emissions.
Meanwhile, the provinces of British Columbia and Québec already require a certain proportion of vehicles for sale have to be emissions-free, and therefore, Wilkinson noted that Canada intends to talk to Washington if similar arrangements could be agreed across the North American region.
