[cmrdporcupine]

I think we're in substantial agreement but Canada has this sickness in all sectors which seems to stop us from authoring our own destiny, some of it is cultural but I think the bulk of it is economic. Most investors here don't take risks because they're busy living low-risk parasitical lives off the resource export and real estate industries.

I would love a Canadian EV company to exist because I'd love to work there as a software engineer.

Got any leads? :-)

[bryanlarsen]

I highly doubt they're hiring software engineers, but https://edisonmotors.ca/ has a promising approach.

[cmrdporcupine]

Cool! Good for them!

[petermcneeley]

You will guarantee that there is no EV manufacturing in Canada if you allow for wholesale important of offshore EVs. Just as there is no manufacturing of almost anything else within Canada.

You are literally advocating for something that is against your own desires.

[cmrdporcupine]

I don't think it's so clear cut. The US auto sector packing up and leaving and taking the auto parts manufacturing world with it -- which is what's happening now anyways -- wouldn't exactly create massive opportunities here, either.

[petermcneeley]

Having your own EV companies (or just own auto company) would. I think you need to think about why you find this confusing.

[wmoxam]

Who would buy these EVs if we build them in Canada?

The Canadian market cannot support a car company without exporting the majority of production. The US is our largest natural market and does not want our auto exports. It's unclear why other markets would want our EVs either.

Artificial barriers to protect an industry where we don't have an advantage (autos) which results in tariffs on a sectors where we do (agricultural products, resources) isn't sustainable or desirable.

[petermcneeley]

Even if this is the myopic best option at the end you will end up with ... a resource extraction economy. Is that really what you want?

[cmrdporcupine]

Unfortunately that (rip and ship energy / resource exporter economy) is what the conservative party wants, what the political leadership in the prairie provinces want, and it's what the US wants for us. And it's hinted at increasingly by Carney ("energy superpower") etc. You're right it's myopic and not good.

But parent poster is correct that blindly subsidizing and funding a local industry with no market will also just lead to boondoggles and failures.

Especially in the context of an uncooperative trading partner which could have been a potential export market for our production in the past but now is a hostile state trying to break apart national unity and destroy what little manufacturing sector successes we have.

We've already had major issues around the massive battery construction plants proposed here in Ontario and Quebec, that got major government support and investment.

Unfortunately this is the very difficult place the manufacturing sector in Canada finds itself in. And the Canadian working class as a whole.

I wouldn't call it myopic to be skeptical here. If there was an easy answer Canada would have taken it decades ago.

[wmoxam]

It doesn't matter what you or I want. How much money do you think the Canadian government should put behind a domestic auto maker? 10s of billions? 100s of billions?

How much are 125k manufacturing jobs in Ontario worth? Are there no better economic sectors that we can build up?