Statement from PC Finance Critic Obby Khan on NDP’s Niche EV Rebate

WINNIPEG — Fort Whyte MLA Obby Khan, PC Critic for Finance and Manitoba Hydro, issued the following statement today on the NDP’s electric vehicle (EV) rebate:

“The NDP rebate for EVs will do almost nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while costing Manitobans $25 million in public funds and helping only the wealthiest drivers.

“The program comes at a time of an affordability crisis as hard-working Manitoba families struggle to purchase groceries and pay for childcare. Nearly half of Manitobans are $200 or less away from becoming unable to pay their monthly bills and many cannot afford a vehicle at all, let alone EVs priced up to $70,000. With only a very small number of people qualifying for EVs, the rebate amounts to a lottery for the fortunate few at the expense of all Manitobans who are paying for this narrow, niche program.

“The Kinew government is touting the rebate as a way to protect the environment while having no plan to reduce emissions and no emission targets. The NDP also have no plan to generate new electricity for EVs. Manitoba will run out of electrical generation capacity by 2029, yet the NDP want more people to drive EVs and consume more energy.

“Lastly, the NDP are offering an EV rebate while EVs are sharply declining in popularity across Canada—from 68 per cent in 2022 to 46 per cent in 2024—because of concerns over their limited range, insufficient charging infrastructure, and performance in cold weather.

“The rebate neither makes life more affordable nor protects the environment. All this announcement does is prove once again that the NDP are more interested in creating flashy headlines than delivering a plan on how to actually make life better for Manitobans.”

-30-

For media inquiries, please contact media@pcmanitoba.com