@jeffmcneill @mekkaokereke substantial subsidies by the Chinese govt. But the US govt has also greatly subsidized manufacturing over the years, like bailing them out in 2009.

I wouldn't be terribly upset if the govt of China wants to pay for half of my EV, if I can get one of the 50k that will be imported to Canada with a low 7% tarrif. That seems like a good deal for me.

@johnefrancis @jeffmcneill

This is exactly working as intended. You should be thinking "Hey! If the Chinese government wants to give me, a proud Canadian, some free money for a car, I will gladly accept it!"

And the more EVs that are on Canada's roads, the more apartment owners and office buildings will say, "🤔Hmm... I should put in charging ports! All the potential renters ask about it!"

And the more that apartment and office building owners will say, "Man! If I put some solar panels on the top of my building, I could offset my electricity costs!"

And the more that bike people will say, "EVs are not the answer! Stop buying cars! Electric bikes are even better! You can charge them too!"

And before long Canada is a solar punk wonderland, and is less dependent on oil imports, and has transitioned more to renewables.

@mekkaokereke Blocking Chinese imports makes sense if we are part of a long-term, stable economic alliance with a trusted partner. Under those circumstances, we have to think about China dumping EVs and ultimately taking our cross-border automotive manufacturing sector down.

What's that? We no longer have a stable relationship with a trusted partner? Canadian jobs are not threatened by imports? We might be better off with the Chinese EVs?

Ok, fine, let'm roll.

@johnefrancis @jeffmcneill