No changes coming for parking lot at Calgary's Edworthy Park—and no parking fees either

There will be no changes made to the parking lot at Edworthy Park in southwest Calgary—and that means no fees for parking.

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Dream car plus 25% tariff? Ontario retiree's classic Mustang caught in trade war

CBC

2 hours ago

Dream car plus 25% tariff? Ontario retiree's classic Mustang caught in trade war

The bright orange 1969 Ford Shelby Mustang is Cameron Gillespie's dream car and something he plans to keep for the rest of his life, making the $105,000 Cdn price tag worth it. But when the 65-year-old retired financial analyst began the process to import it from an Iowa car dealership to his Brantford, Ont., home in May, he learned he'd have to pay significantly more than expected due to the trade war between Canada and the U.S. Classic cars are among the U.S. goods Canada has imposed a 25 per cent tariff on, so including sales tax, Gillespie estimates he will be paying $30,000 in extra duties to the Canadian government. "This tariff is not impacting the Americans. It's impacting us individual Canadians," he said. "I'm caught in the politics of two countries fighting with each other and it's the Canadian government who has implemented this tariff, not Donald Trump." In response to the U.S. president imposing a 25 per cent tariff on vehicles in April, Ottawa launched reciprocal tariffs, which it said would be in place until the Americans lift their levies. Meanwhile, Gillespie said, his Mustang remains parked at the Iowa dealership as he pushes for a tariff exemption — similar to what auto producers in Canada have. Exemption for auto producers In May, the federal government announced these large companies would be provided with "relief from Canada's counter-tariffs" as long as they maintain domestic production. That means they are able to import "a certain quantity" of new vehicles from the U.S. without paying the extra 25 per cent. "It is intended to support continued automotive production and investment in Canada," said Department of Finance spokesperson Benoit Sabourin. No such relief was afforded to individual Canadians wishing to import classic or used cars from the U.S., the Department of Finance confirmed. The 25 per cent tariffs apply even to vehicles (like Gillespie's Mustang) that were previously duty free through the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade. "These measures were not imposed lightly — they were necessary to respond to unjustified U.S. actions and to protect Canada's economic interests," said Sabourin. "The government continues to monitor the trade situation closely and will not hesitate to adjust its response, as required, to meet its policy objectives." Gillespie said he contacted the Department of Finance, and his local Conservative member of Parliament has written a letter on his behalf, but he's heard nothing back. "I'm disappointed in our government, doing this to individuals," Gillespie said. "I don't want to lose [the car] but I don't want to pay an extra [$30,000] for something that doesn't make sense and shouldn't apply to begin with." Gillespie's Shelby Mustang is a high-performance, two-door convertible. The iconic cars were originally built by Shelby-American, a company founded by famous racing car driver and automotive designer Carroll Shelby, and then by Ford. Conflicting information Before Gillespie bought the Mustang on May 30, he said, he called Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to check if it would be subject to a tariff. "I didn't want any surprises," he said. "They informed me there are no tariffs on classic cars over 25 years old." He went ahead with the purchase, but when he called Toronto-based transportation company TFX International to bring it across the border, it informed him there would in fact be a tariff, plus tax, bringing the total from $118,650 to $148,300. The CBSA, which manages the flow of people and goods across Canada's borders, including land crossings from the U.S., did not provide a comment before publication. Adam Horodnyk, vice-president of TFX International, said the tariffs have greatly impacted the business, as few Canadians are able or willing to pay the extra expense for classic cars. "The number of people calling me, asking about importing a classic car, the second I tell them about a tariff, they say, 'We're not buying the car,'" or they're keeping them in the U.S., he said. Right now, TFX is holding about 50 cars in a warehouse across the border for Canadians hoping the trade war will end soon, said Horodnyk. The company is down $50,000 to $100,000 in transportation sales a week and the federal government is missing out on collecting taxes, he said. The tariff impacts are also being felt "massively" across Canadian sectors, from the truck drivers who import vehicles to the mechanics who tune them up, to the classic car shows raising money for charities, said Horodnyk. "It makes no impact on the trade dispute. There's no way you could possibly convince me this [tariff on classic cars] is in some way going to change what the president of the United States does when it comes to Canada." He said the Canadian government's tariff exemption for auto producers importing new cars is "unfair" as individual Canadians wanting to import a 50-year-old vehicle aren't provided with the same relief. And slowing down individual sales of vintage Cadillacs or Lincolns won't hurt business for General Motors or Ford, Horodnyk argues.

How these condo dwellers got EV charging in their buildings

CBC

2 hours ago

How these condo dwellers got EV charging in their buildings

One of the biggest perks of owning an EV is waking up to a fully charged car every morning and never having to go to a gas station — that is, if you have at-home charging. Before Lucian Oboroceanu got EV chargers installed in his Toronto condo building, keeping his car charged was a pain. "I had to go around the city to find [a] charger and it was very difficult," he recalled. In a recent survey of 16,000 Canadian EV drivers by CAA and PlugShare, 85 per cent of respondents in single-family homes had access to home charging, compared to 62 per cent of those in multi-family buildings. In that survey, only 20 per cent of EV owners lived in a multi-family building, even though about a third of Canadians live in this kind of housing. Oboroceanu soon learned he wasn't the only person in his 350-unit building who was concerned about the lack of charging — several neighbours brought it up at the board's general meeting. One was trying to sell his unit and kept getting questions about the availability of EV charging from prospective buyers. As board treasurer, Oboroceanu decided to address the problem. Two years later, EV chargers are installed in the personal parking spots of anyone in the building who wants one, including his own. Retrofitting condo buildings with EV chargers can pose a challenge, as Oboroceanu learned. CBC News spoke with him and several other condo owners who succeeded, and learned what they did to make it work. Why getting charging into older condos is hard Joanna Kyriazis, public affairs director for the think-tank Clean Energy Canada, said it typically costs about $1,500 to install a Level 2 charger in a single-family home, but it can be far more to retrofit a multi-family building. (It's much cheaper in a new building.) That's because installation can be complex and involve expensive drilling and long-distance wiring through multiple levels of parking. When Oboroceanu first looked into what it would take to get charging for 10 cars in his condo building, he was shocked to learn it would cost $50,000 — a no-go. Some buildings also have limited electrical capacity. Peter Luff of Kanata, Ont., a suburb of Ottawa, calculated that to have charging capacity for all eight condo units, his building could only install Level 1 charging rather than the faster Level 2 charging that can fill an empty battery overnight. The good news is that Level 1 is often fast enough for many drivers, including Luff. Kyriazis said electrical capacity is often not an issue, thanks to technology that can monitor and optimize charging, but people may not know about those solutions. One final issue: How will EV owners pay for charging and the electricity they use? "There's not a standard way of doing this yet," said Kyriazis. Systems that manage charging and payment often require network connectivity, which can also add to infrastructure costs. Do your research While all these can be challenging, Oboroceanu, Luff and Kyriazis have some advice for success. Surveying one's building, residents and government subsidies are good places to start. Luff contacted the local electrical utility and nearby buildings that already had charging to get information. So did Dave Wong of Vancouver, B.C., who lives in a 36-storey highrise with 132 units. He learned from neighbours about federal and provincial programs that when stacked together with a subsidy from B.C. Hydro could defer almost all costs. He also got the names of four local vendors and quotes for different possible configurations. Finally, he hand-delivered surveys to every unit in his building to find out how many people had EVs, and how many planned to buy one in the next five years. Educate neighbours and build allies Cara Clairman, president and CEO of Plug'n Drive, an EV advocacy group, said getting neighbours on board is important, as a condo board will need to approve EV charging first. Wong and Luff both provided information about EVs and EV uptake to their neighbours. For example, Wong noted in his survey that B.C. will require 100 per cent of new vehicle sales to be zero emissions by 2035, increasing the future demand for EV charging. They argued that potential buyers will want EV charging in their building — something Oroboceanu's neighbours were already finding in 2023. Wong also argued that it would be cheaper to retrofit the whole building at once, especially since subsidies were available at the time. WATCH | Road to EV adoption: Why experts think the future is still electric Road to EV adoption: Why experts think the future is still electric 9 months ago Duration 5:47 Recent headlines have suggested that consumers are losing interest in electric vehicles, but a closer look at the trends tells a different story. CBC's Nisha Patel breaks down where we're at in the EV transition and why experts say the future is still electric. Keep your building's needs in mind Through his survey, Wong learned there were only five EV owners in his building. (He didn't even have one himself.) So instead of installing a charger in every spot, the building just wired every spot to be EV-ready at a cost of $1,000 per unit (with subsidies), with the option to add a Level 2 charger for $3,500. To Wong's surprise, 20 people did that. Luff went with Level 1 charging. His board learned that Ontario would allow the project to be paid for from the condo's reserve fund "so there was no problem in coming up with the money." He also kept payments simple, buying $40 electricity meters for all the new outlets. Residents pay bills based on the reading each month. The one disadvantage, he said, is that the system is "totally reliant on you being honest." That likely wouldn't work for a large building like Oboroceanu's. His research on local vendors in Toronto eventually brought him to Smart EV Systems, which offered a package with no upfront cost to install an electrical panel serving up to 10 EV chargers. He rents his charger and pays for the electricity monthly. Kyriazis said hiring companies like that can be a good solution, as they take care of many of the complexities. But she said she has heard mixed reviews on the payment schemes, which can cost more in the long run. So far, though, Oboroceanu is pleased with the result — so pleased that he's recommending the service to some of the 150 buildings he manages through Newton-Trelawney Property Management. For those looking to get EV charging in their own buildings, Plug'n Drive and Clean Energy Canada are working on a new guide that they hope to release in the fall.

CTV News

7 hours ago

CTV News