During the announcement of $5 billion in government incentives for a new Honda EV assembly plant in Ontario, Trudeau lashed out at Conservatives for criticizing his rampant spending.
“Yes, there are politicians who sit back and say, ‘No, no, no, no. We’ve got to balance the budget at all costs even if it means not investing in Canadian workers and investing in the future. Well, I think they’re wrong,” Trudeau said of Conservatives at a press conference.
“And that’s part of the choice Canadians get to make over the coming year and a half when we get to a federal election. Are we a confident country that invests in ourselves, in our workers, in our future, or do we sit back and say, alright, we’ll let Canadians sort themselves out.”
Based on Trudeau’s current approval rating, I think it’s safe to say Canadians would very much prefer the latter to more of Trudeau’s ‘help’. Nonetheless, Trudeau continued, saying that Canada (the federal government) must make “deliberate investments in the future”.
As part of the investment, Honda will be building an EV assembly plant, a battery production plant, and a cathode active material plant in Alliston, Ontario, which is expected to begin churning out 240,000 electric vehicles annually beginning in 2028.
On paper, the investment sounds fantastic. After all, it’s expected to be the biggest EV operation in North America. However, while the overall cost will be $15 billion, the fact that the provincial and federal government are dolling out an additional $5 billion in incentives along with tax credits to create a paltry 1,000 jobs ($5 million to create each job) is hardly encouraging.
