McFadyen would cut PST on green vehicles
Provincial politicians are quibbling about a rebate program for hybrid cars that won’t really help curb climate change, said a local environmentalist.
"Rebate programs don’t encourage people to drive less," said Curt Hull, project manager with Climate Change Connection. "They encourage people to buy new cars, so you wind up sustaining the status quo with a tiny adjustment to what’s on the road."
Tory leader Hugh McFadyen announces PST cut on green vehicles at Portage and Main Thursday morning.
Tory Leader Hugh McFadyen promised Thursday a three-per-cent break on the PST to anyone who buys a fuel- efficient car or SUV.
That would replace the NDP’s new rebate program that gives $2,000 cash back to people buying hybrid cars and SUVs.
Besides small cars and hybrids like the Toyota Prius that gets 100 kilometers per 6.5 litres, McFadyen’s deal includes some fuel-efficient SUVs and vans that get 100 kilometers or better per 8.3 litres, like the Toyota Rav4 or the Jeep Compass. His deal would give the average car buyer a break worth $1,000. That’s less than the NDP has offered, but McFadyen’s deal would be available to a larger number of drivers.
Asked whether it makes sense to extend the incentive program to SUVs -- traditionally seen as gas guzzlers -- McFadyen said some families need larger cars and they shouldn’t be forced to buy one of the few, expensive hybrid SUVs out there to get the rebate. A hybrid Ford Escape like the one McFadyen is using on the campaign trail starts at $32,000. "The bottom line is fuel efficiency," said McFadyen.
But Hull, an expert on green transportation, said what’s really needed is a huge improvement to bike paths and transit to get people to drive less.
He’s glad to see climate change is a central campaign issue, but he worries the debate has focused too narrowly on rebates for green cars.
"You can have a Hummer that you drive twice a year and take the bus the rest of the time, and that’s better than someone who drives a Toyota Echo every day," he said. "We need to give people more attractive choices."
McFadyen also pledged Thursday to set up an emissions testing station where drivers could stop in and find out what’s being pumped from their tailpipes. That would likely costs about $6 million to build and operate, based on similar ones on the West Coast.
Ontario has a system of mandatory tailpipe emissions standards that has been highly criticized, but McFadyen said he has no plans to crackdown on stinky cars. Incentives work better, he said.
"Manitobans aren’t in a position to have their cars taken away from them by the government," he said.
maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca
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