Canada gives $14 billion to support EV corporate welfare – problem is, they aren’t selling without your money

From January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2032, the Canadian government will distribute over $ 14 billion in corporate welfare to “secure greater access” to battery cell and module production in Canada. The money was awarded to NextStar Energy. The company is based in Windsor, Ontario. Here’s the issue: when the government cuts subsidies for electric vehicles, their sales fall off a cliff. Very few people want an electric vehicle if they have to pay the full price.

Canada’s left-wing parties would have Canadians believe that electric vehicles are the future. They might argue that Canada is seeing an increased adoption of EVs and that their sales will continue to increase over time. However, when the government of Quebec reduced subsidies for EVs and other zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), sales reportedly dropped by 65 percent.

Quebec, which leads ZEV sales in Canada, drove down national sales figures. In the first quarter of 2025, national electric vehicle sales were reported to be down by over 40% compared to the same period in the previous year. This begs the obvious question: why is the government banning the sale of gas-powered vehicles when the primary driver behind ZEV adoption is increased government subsidies and taxpayer-funded incentives?

If ZEVs and EVs are so amazing, why does the government need to spend $14 billion to get a company to set up shop in Canada? If they really are the future, wouldn’t big automotive manufacturers be lining up to manufacture them? If these vehicles are so great, why does the government feel the need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to subsidize them?

I would argue that Canadians don’t want them and that the only reason for the increase in sales is heavy heaps of government propaganda and equally heavy heaps of taxpayer dollars being dished out in the form of subsidies.

So I’ll pose the question. How does spending billions of dollars on something nobody really wants make Canada a more competitive and better-off country? How does spending billions and picking a “winner” in the market make Canada more competitive and more likely to drive innovation? Canada’s economy is on the edge and we have a healthcare system that’s crumbling and infrastructure that desperately needs replacing – we can’t afford to flush 14 billion dollars down the toilet.

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