Trudeau gives Canadian Tire $2.7 million for electric car charging stations

As well as this, the government of British Columbia has also approved a grant of $275,000.

The nearly $3 million colossal subsidy will be used to build 54 electric charging stations. This subsidy seems to prove that the federal government is willing to spend a great deal on environmental projects.

In 2016, the Department of Natural Resources gave $1.3 million to the Quebec-based AddEnergie for the same purpose of creating electric car charging stations throughout the country.

The sheer size of the government’s subsidy will face scrutiny, as the Department of Natural Resources has previously concluded that these taxpayer funded charging station were used little by drivers. In Ontario and Quebec, for instance, these charging stations had as little as one to three customers a day.

“This is pure corporate welfare. Canadian Tire had revenues of $14 billion last year. Why on earth are taxpayers giving them a gift of $2.7 million to build something that people are barely going to use?” said Canadian Taxpayers Federation federal director Aaron Wudrick.

“When it comes to fighting climate change this government wants to hit regular people with a carbon tax, but give big corporations big taxpayer subsidies. They’re talking out of both sides of their mouth.”