OTTAWA — Conservatives are blaming the federal government’s electric vehicle strategy after reports that Honda is indefinitely suspending plans for a $15 billion electric vehicle project in Ontario.Prime Minister Mark Carney acknowledged Wednesday that Canada’s auto sector is facing pressure from U.S. tariffs, though he did not directly address the Honda reports.“There are challenges with the U.S. tariffs, unjustified tariffs in the auto sector,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa. “We’ll continue to work with companies in the sector, helping them reposition, reinvest, supporting workers there.”The comments came after Japanese media reported Honda is shelving its planned Ontario EV expansion indefinitely. The company had already announced in May 2025 that it would delay the project for two years while reassessing global EV demand.Conservative MP Adam Chambers said the situation reflects what he described as a flawed federal industrial strategy centred on electric vehicles.“I think it’s an indictment of the government’s auto policy,” Chambers said Wednesday, arguing Ottawa “bet very big on electric vehicles” through subsidies designed to attract EV manufacturing to Canada..Chambers said some automakers shifted traditional vehicle production out of Canada to make room for EV production encouraged by government incentives.“And now the market isn’t quite where it is, and this is a direct result of the government’s big bet on electric vehicles,” he said.He also warned Canada’s auto sector remains heavily dependent on access to the American market.“If we don’t have any access to the U.S. market, we do not have an industry,” Chambers said, adding the government needs to negotiate a deal with the United States to protect Canadian auto jobs.Chambers questioned whether additional EV subsidies would solve the problem, arguing consumer demand has not kept pace with production ambitions.“There needs to be a market to sell EVs for,” he said. “The market demand is not there and these individual manufacturers are choosing to delay or slow their EV production.”
