Electric vehicle rebate among staff proposals to speed up Toronto’s target to become a carbon neutral city
T.C. Robertson, who oversees the city’s Zero Waste Plan as the city manager, said he will use his new powers to give rebates to employees to encourage them to drive electric vehicles, even if they are not part of the city’s electric vehicle rebates program.
“They were telling me it was important, and I thought it was very important for the people of Toronto to drive electric cars, whatever their use case is,” he told The Tyee. “And I thought it was important to send a message to our staff that we care about driving cleaner vehicles.”
The city offered rebates in 2015 only to new cars of the type purchased in 2015 or 2016, but the program has also been expanded this year to include the use of two existing tax credits, one for electric vehicles and another for hybrids.
A proposal by Robertson to give rebates to employees as a perk to encourage them to drive electrically has been met with support from staff and officials during four internal staff and council committee meetings.
“The electric vehicle rebate program has been an opportunity for us to show our appreciation for a change in behaviour,” read a staff email from April from Marybeth McKay, the city’s chief sustainability officer. “We’re happy to hear Mayor Tory and all the council members are interested in supporting this program with staff.”
The idea for giving rebates came up in April during a council committee meeting to discuss the city’s Zero Waste Plan, which is to be discussed by council in September.
“We are going to be very careful in what we do, and we are going to put the incentives in the Zero Waste Plan that have the most impact,” said Ward 9 Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam.
In the Zero Waste Plan, staff recommends that the city become carbon neutral in the year 2035.
“We’re still working on the carbon neutral part of the plan, but it does include the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2035. So we’re in