Your commute just got easier on your wallet, right?
Good morning from the Fundy shore — the tide's turning, and so is New Brunswick. Let's get into it.
We're all hearing about Quebec pushing hard on electric vehicles, with their Premier dismissing Doug Ford's concerns about an EV mandate. Out west, they're talking about incentives, and other provinces are trying to figure out how to get more electric vehicles on the road. Here in New Brunswick, especially in Saint John, it feels a bit different. We're a port city, right? We're about industry, about getting things moving. The talk around electric vehicles here isn't just about the environment, it's about the wallet, especially with gas prices doing what they do.
### What it means for us
I'll tell you what, when you're driving up and down King Street every day, or out the Golden Mile to grab groceries, the cost of fuel is a constant hum in the back of your mind. For folks in Saint John, and especially for those commuters coming in from Quispamsis or going out to the Fundy Trail Parkway for work, electric vehicles are looking more and more like a way to save a few dollars.
* The provincial budget just hit us with a historic $1.4B deficit, and while they're talking about reducing spending, the proposed highway toll near the provincial boundary is still on the table for 2028. That's another cost for drivers, and it makes the idea of cheaper-to-run electric vehicles even more appealing. * We've got a lot of long hauls here. If you're going from Saint John to Fredericton for the Boyce Farmers Market on a Saturday, or even just across the harbour via the McKay Highway, those kilometres add up. * The infrastructure is still a bit of a question, mind you. You see some charging stations, especially uptown, but are there enough to really make the jump feel easy for everyone? That's the 'so what' for us.
The real push for electric vehicles in Saint John will come down to practicality and pocketbook. We might not have an EV mandate like Quebec, but if it helps us navigate those future tolls and keeps more money in our pockets for a pint at the brewery after work, well, that's a mandate we can get behind.
Caleb Duguay-Firth, MiTL Sports Desk, Saint John.
The folks on the Morning Wire always have a take on this kind of thing — you can catch 'em live over at mornings.live.