All we hear today is that interest rates are high.  In comparison with the past 3 years this is true.  But, based on records since 1954 they are in the normal range, between four-and- six percent, depending on what side of the transaction one is on. A risk-free rate of four-points provides savers a decent return on savings while banks can lend at 6%, a healthy two-percent spread.  These interest rates have served Canada well. Interest rates are not the main issue.

The biggest problem is Trudeau. He has put in place severe government regulations and higher taxes that must continue to cover his wasteful spending on our dime. Our tight regulations make permit applications last upwards of a decade and cost millions of dollars before shovels can break ground.  This is amongst the longest wait time in the world and makes us non-competitive.  The result is that we kiss goodbye trillions of foreign investments and encourage Canadians to invest outside of the country. Both started occurring once it became likely Trudeau would be voted in.

Countries around the world are developing their resources while we refuse to even though the world prefers ours.  If Trudeau was a true EV believer, he would have opened The Ring of Fire, a vast area located in Northern Ontario rich in the metals used in batteries.   This has been known since the fifties but there has never been a reason too until now. Yet these resources cannot be mined until a heavy-duty highway and airports are built which will take at least a decade because of current government regulations. 

The EV market is so baffling from an economic perspective.  The cars cost too much. They certainly do not result in less greenhouse gas once the supply chain is factored in, and it is a welfare business that survives on legislation, subsidies, and tax incentives.  Governments around the world are throwing gobs of money at the sector, even though they cannot afford to. These companies can very easily finance these projects themselves with cash, but they see no long-term investment. They would have already jumped into the market or bought out Tesla a decade ago if they did.  

Ottawa gave Volkswagen $13b that will be disbursed over 10 years and the Ontario government is also pitching in half a billion. The company made $29b(Cdn) in profits last year and are laughing all the way to the bank thanking Canadians for not putting their shareholders at risk.  These companies realize that EVs will not be around long because cleaner forms of energy based on existing infrastructure are being developed, like hydrogen. Governments are also giving consumers part of the purchase price because the cars are too expensive. The same bells and whistles can be had in an ICE for 30% less. There is no incentive to buy without the gift. This has been proven in every country that has cut these handouts.    

The market price of the metals used to make batteries have been in a freefall for the past two months.  The price of lithium is down 60% from one year ago.  Cobalt, nickel, and copper are down 55%, 28%, and 15%, respectively.  Given the falling cost of inputs, why are governments rushing to throw our money at these businesses?  When governments do this, you know the chances of survival are slim.  The EV is shaping up to be one of the biggest frauds put on taxpayers.  By next decade the world will have moved beyond the EV, just like they did in the 1850’s.

The transition from gasoline and diesel could be fatal for the economy because the two make up sixty percent of oil company revenues which shares in the cost of operations and investment. Once this is removed, the price of everything you touch which includes all construction, EV's, solar panels, and wind turbines will increase substantially because the lost revenue will be recovered further downstream in the more-refined markets in the form of higher prices. There are roughly 6000 products used daily that exists only because of oil.  People say these companies will just shrink or even shrivel away with a switch to EV’s, but the truth is our whole civilization relies on the resouce in some form or other and always will, meaning these companies are not going to disappear. Tampering with the current system is nothing but a recipe for disaster. 

The G7 is allowing unelected environmentalists such as the UN and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to run their countries.  These extremists only care about their paycheque which is earned by strangling the economy. Every country that has allowed this experienced a declining standard of living for the majority, like we are experiencing here in Canada today. Sacola’s view is that the climate change movement is based on politics and fantasy, not science. There is no denying that the climate is changing, but the earth is 4.5 billion years old and there is nothing occurring today that did not occur in the past. That is a fact. Governments falling for this trap have increased household expenses, have not changed the pace or form at which the climate is changing, and has made zero improvement to the economy. Much of Europe has realized this and are back to using more coal, nuclear, and natural gas.    

The earth is the greenest it has ever been since the last ice age. The world population has grown, and the average life span has increased every year since the use of oil.  The negative effects from oil on the environment and humans have clearly been minimal. The only fossil fuel environmentalists should be targeting is coal which China and India are building hundreds of plants  meant to last 80 years. Isn't it convenient that climate alarmists never talk about this? That is because when it comes to professional protestors and lobbyists, Canada and the other G7 nations are where the money is at.