Canada’s budget watchdog has demanded an update from Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne on the cost of the federal government’s subsidies for electric vehicle battery plants amid a decline in the industry.
The outgoing Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) Yves Giroux wrote a letter to the Department of Finance on Aug. 14 to request the department’s updated annual fiscal forecasts of electric vehicle (EV) production subsidies and construction support for Northvolt, Stellantis-LGES, and Volkswagen, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
Giroux said the PBO’s primary objectives are “to provide timely and effective analysis to the Senate and House of Commons” and to promote “greater budget transparency and accountability.”…