The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is demanding politicians reject the recent corporate welfare budgeted for multinational manufacturers after the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) released their report on Friday, revealing billions in cost overruns for taxpayers.
“We estimate the total cost of government support for EV battery manufacturing by Northvolt, Volkswagen and Stellantis-LGES to be $43.6 billion over 2022-23 to 2032-33, which is $5.8 billion higher than the $37.7 billion in announced cost,” reads the PBO report.
According to the CTF, the government has a habit of going over budget and the latest instance should concern Canadians.
“Politicians said the Northvolt, Volkswagen and Stellantis deals would cost taxpayers almost $38 billion, but the PBO report shows the bills will be billions higher,” said CTF Ontario Director Jay Goldberg. “Governments have a terrible track record on corporate welfare and there’s a real risk these overruns will soar even higher.”
In the PBO report, government handouts going to Northvolt, Volkswagen and Stellantis will cost the taxpayer an additional $5.8 billion more over the next ten years than what was initially promised earlier this year.
The report also confirms that these corporate welfare projects will take even longer to break even than the timeline that was originally projected.
Canadians were told by politicians that the taxpayer money would be recovered within five years, however now the PBO predicts it will be at least 11 years for Northvolt, 15 years for Volkswagen and 23 years for Stellantis.
“The PBO report is proof taxpayers shouldn’t trust politicians when they promise the moon and the stars on corporate welfare deals,” said Goldberg. “Given the awful track record governments have on corporate welfare deals, taxpayers are most likely to break even somewhere between 23 years from now and never.”
Conservative Shadow Minister for Treasury Board MP Stephanie Kusie released a statement on Trudeau’s broken promise that his government would reduce spending on consultants. Kusie called the PBO report another example of “More broken promises. More Liberal elites being rewarded. More of your money wasted. Justin Trudeau is not worth the cost.”
