SHOCKING: Canadian taxpayers paid $72 million to subsidize Tesla vehicles

"A $55,000 vehicle would be a luxury vehicle for most Canadians," argued Conservative MP Brad Redekopp before the Commons environment committee. "Essentially what we’re doing is subsidizing a vehicle that a wealthy person is going to buy."

Canadian Taxpayers Federation director Aaron Wudrick also testified before the committee. "Tesla has received the most subsidies from this program, I think it’s a fair question to ask whether regular Canadian taxpayers should be subsidizing the purchase of luxury vehicles for people who are prepared to pay full price for them. I would suggest the answer is no," he said.

"If the purpose of these subsidies is to encourage the uptake of zero emission vehicles, it seems a relevant question is whether they are actually leading to a higher uptake or simply providing subsidies to people who were going to buy zero emission vehicles anyway," he continued.

Building on MP Redekopp's point, Wudrick asserted "even a $45,000 vehicle, I would suggest, never mind a $55,000 vehicle, would be considered a luxury vehicle by most Canadians."

The federal government offers up to $5,000 in subsidies for anyone wishing to purchase an electric vehicle costing up to $55,000. Over $227 million has been spent by the federal government to subsidize electric vehicle purchases to date, according to the Department of Transportation. The largest beneficiary of which was Tesla.

Some provincial governments offer rebates of their own for electric vehicles, with British Columbia and Quebec offering $3,000 and $8,000 rebates respectively. The most generous rebate in the country was offered in Ontario, which provided up to $14,000 in rebates before the program was cut by Premier Doug Ford's government as a cost-saving measure.

Not all MPs criticized the subsidy, with NDP MP Taylor Bachrach, who drives an electric Chevrolet Volt, arguing that electric cars are "cheaper to run" and "fun to drive."

Electric Mobility Canada CEO Daniel Breton defended the cost of electric vehicles, suggesting that they are just as affordable as regular cars in the long run, if not more. "very often when you start to add all the calculations in the end, an electric vehicle can be just as affordable as a Honda Civic," he suggested, pointing to the cost of fuel, insurance, maintenance, and the resale value of electric cars.