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Liberal, NDP, Bloc MPs shut down motion to study EV subsidies
A Conservative MP’s call for a Parliamentary committee to study the nearly $50 billion in taxpayer money that has gone into the electric vehicle industry in the form of government subsidies was voted down on Thursday,
Conservative MP Rick Perkins, who represents South Shore—St. Margarets, NS, requested that the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology study the billions given to automakers in the EV industry as it continues to move away from EV manufacturing, instead returning to fossil-fuel powered vehicles.
The three key reasons Perkins addressed in his call for the study were firstly that the Northvolt $7 billion dollar EV battery power plant in Montreal, Que. delayed construction of its plant for upwards of a year while it undergoes a strategic review of its future operations, despite receiving $7.2 billion dollars worth of taxpayer money.
Secondly, Umicor’s $2.7 billion dollar EV factory component plant in Kingston, Ont. has also halted construction, despite receiving taxpayer subsidies.
Thirdly, Ford’s $1.8 billion EV expansion in Oakville, Ont. being scrapped and retooled to make gasoline pickups, despite receiving $590 million dollars worth of taxpayer subsidies.
“Given that the government of Canada has invested upwards of $50 billion dollars towards the creation of an EV battery ecosystem in Canada and has mandated that all automobile sales in Canada be zero emitting by 2035,” said Perkins, before asking that the committee “agree to conduct a four meeting study beginning in the first week of November to review the feasibility of the government’s EV strategy.”
