Serious shortcomings in the federal government's ecoAUTO program

Jim Flaherty

Following the presentation of the latest federal budget by the Finance minister, Jim Flaherty, on March 20, we published an article about a new incentive program put forward to encourage drivers who care about the environment. The Harper government also announced a tax on large-displacement vehicles in hope of further reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Let's focus our attention on the ecoAUTO incentive program which, in my mind, contains a number of shortcomings susceptible of angering and frustrating a lot of consumers.

In its current form, the ecoAUTO program offers refunds of up to $2,000 to consumers who buy or lease a highly fuel-efficient vehicle after March 20, 2007. Why March 20? Simply because the budget was tabled on this date. OK, fine. It really is an incentive if you bought, for instance, a 2007 Toyota Prius in the following days. In this case, based on the program's chart, you are eligible for a $2,000 refund. That's an interesting amount, especially if you consider the additional $2,000 refund coming from the Quebec government.

On the other hand, if you bought your Prius on March 19, on the eve of the budget, you get absolutely nothing. It didn't take long before a group of consumers who had already acquired an eligible, highly fuel-efficient vehicle expressed their discontent and frustration -- they are penalized for acting more quickly than the government. If I were in the same boat, I would also be raging mad!

In reality, there are no measures to reward the eco-minded consumers who already tried to reduce their GHG emissions by purchasing or leasing a green vehicle between January 1 and March 20, 2007. Again, that's got to be frustrating! In other words, the federal government wants to encourage non-initiate while forgetting about those who had already started to protect the environment.

2007 Toyota Prius

Why not January 1, 2007?
Personally, if I had a single recommendation for the ecoAUTO administrators, it would be to broaden the program's application by retroactively refunding consumers who bought or leased a highly fuel-efficient vehicle since January 1, 2007. Obviously, there has to be a limit; any purchase or lease made in 2006 would be excluded. In its current form, the program isn't fair to hardcore fans of Mother Earth. It's like a boss who decides to motivate his non-productive employees instead of rewarding the best members of his team. Doesn't the government know anything about positive reinforcement?