Whoever calls this an investment with a straight face is utterly delusional. An investment implies an identifiable return related to the profitability of the company. In this case, taxpayers can kiss the money goodbye. In a race with the United States to see who can go bankrupt first, Canada is obviously not going to win, but we seem to think it shows character to die trying.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government agreed to subsidies that may top $13 billion over a decade to land an electric-vehicle battery plant by Volkswagen AG, the company’s first gigafactory outside Europe.
The money is provided through an unprecedented contract negotiated by Trudeau’s industry minister, François-Philippe Champagne. Canada will provide annual production subsidies as well as a grant toward the factory’s capital cost — effectively matching what the German automaker could have received via the Inflation Reduction Act if it had located the plant in the U.S., according to government officials.
The subsidization of somewhere around $450,000 per employee per year to spare the US treasury the same abuse makes about as much sense as building huge heated year round greenhouses and at great cost to the unborn taxpayers make Canada a world class grower of tropical fruit. The Spawn-Fuhrer’s regime kills off our competitively advantageous industries (fossil fuels, agriculture, forestry, mining, etc) while attempting to satisfy the inexhaustible thirst for rent seeking bounty to allow elected sociopaths to boast to the deaf, dumb and blind that we have a high tech manufacturing prowess for products that are only purchased when subsidized.
These so-called investments usually go badly. Just a few years ago, former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo sank $750 million into SolarCity, Buffalo in a bid to revitalize the city’s industrial activity. Within a couple of years, all of the capital had been lost when operations were suspended in 2020. It’s improbable that Volkswagen will come anywhere close to repaying government grants and loans.
germans have sometimes paid back !!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_reparations#:~:text=The%20Treaty%20of%20Versailles%20(signed,damage%20caused%20during%20the%20war.
Germany paid nothing in war reparations regardless of the terms of Versailles. Non-payment was why France seized the Ruhr. France’s ejection from the Ruhr ensured that no payment schedule would ever be enforced. Germany’s massive inflation of the Reichsmark by the end of the war made any reparations completely worthless even if they had been paid.
In this case, Volkswagen already got away for years with fraudulent performance claims over their diesel vehicles. Having bilked customers and governments at least once there’s no reason to suppose VW will be any more honest this time.
I just a commercial for the new Lexus EV. Somehow it’s powered by you (me). They don’t really explain how that works.
Eat lots of beans.
Well, I remember The Electric Prunes. “I Had to Much to Dream Last Night”. Speaking of too many beans, kind of describes the whole green movement.
So VW Battery,better than a Bricklen?
They keep using that word “Investing” I do not think it means what they think it does.
But once again..What an opportunity to steal.
As for VW,meh,they know their governments and how to “inform ” them.
And they may see this as a wonderful opportunity for revenge.
I would.
This will be the MadMarmots VolksBattery.. The peoples battery.. Manufacttoring something the people don’t want but will pay for.. Maybe a CBCBattery.These people are nuts, as they will probably be out of power before they lay the cornerstone.
At least slaves get food and shelter in return for their time and labour. Canadian taxpayers? SFA.
But… these people are like literally nazis !!
OMFG.. i’m literally shaking !!
Do they even have pronouns in Jerman ?
I want to talk to a manager, please.
Hey, if you manufacture a battery in sub zero temperatures, will ithat improve its sub zero temperature performance????
….. or are you gonna have to ship all of them south…
I’m envisioning a VW Thing (Kubelwagon) with front skis, a bunch of solar panels, wind turbine, couple harnessed dogs, driver’s side push bar, …
13 billion is just the start. Ze Germans vil vant mor
Franck Stronach is rolling in his …wait!
Belinda Stronach crossed the floor…
Peter McKay said Dogs are loyal
J Chretien said Whats a million here, a million dere…
Trufaux is bringing in refugee millions to make the GDP based debt per capita look smaller, and bragging about it.
Didnt the Libs buy the F35, navy ships, arms to the Ukes, etc
Lol at strikers, Flealander says no soup for joo.
Dead money for dead technology.
+++ roaddog
Investment geniuses – buy it for five billion and the project is slated fo 3 billion and a year to be twined – 6 years later and 30 billion and still no pipeline. But,but but it’s Harper’s fault or covid or climate change or not enough female construction workers or the war in Ukraine. Who or what will be the cause of this disaster- because for sure they will need a lot more money!
Here in South Carolina, USA, we are also paying Volkswagen – in our case they are going to build Sparky Scouts down here. They bought the “Scout” brand from the Cornbinder folks and they’re going to make them here. Although once you’ve taken your Scout out into the backcountry, where do you plug it in?
Tennessee already has a Volkswagen plant, for which honor they paid $800 million.
Earth raping slave vehicle subsidies.
If it cannot get started without taxpayer money and cannot produce a product that can be sold at a profit then it is not worth spending ten cents on.
VOWG
Best comment of the bunch.
PRECISELY.
One wonders when Uncomon sense will return vis a vis Solar/Wind Turbines…TRILLIONS spent to barely create enough energy to fill a single container of AA batteries.
With this kind of money flying out the door, there is one thing we know for sure.
Somewhere, someone connected to the Liberal Party is getting a piece of this action. Just wait to see which retiring Liberal MP gets a board position with this company, or some Liberal donor company getting some nice juicy contracts.
Liberals……nothing goes out of the bakery; unless they are getting a piece of the pie first.
The plants going into St. Thomas Ontario, former home of the Ford Crown Victoria plant (until the police all switched to SUVs and old people all died off), and a huge old psychiatric hospital that closed when the senior turd’s charter of rights set them all loose to become homeless drug addicts.
You guys seem to have missed a line in that article.
“He also noted the money won’t start flowing for many years, given it’s tied to production at a factory that still needs to be built.”
I agree that it’s corporate welfare, but at least it’s tied directly to production and not simply paying them to build the factory. It’s also tied to the Inflation Reduction Act, so if that disappears after 2024, it’s really not going to cost anything.
Fascism, when your government colludes with big business to force the peasants to fund pie in the sky pipe dreams. By the time their up and running EVs will be proven unworkable but oh well it’s just our money right liberals?
The (car plant) future, Marc summarizes –check it out
https://youtu.be/bW8wdKhmPvQ
Does that even make any economic sense to anybody but idiot politicians?
I ask.