The government of Manitoba has spent $326,000 subsidizing electric vehicle chargers in the last two years without any usage data, according to documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

“Spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars without looking at the results is the textbook definition of government waste,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie Director. “Any regular Manitoban would be fired for spending this kind of money and forgetting to check what happened.”

“The government needs to cancel this program before any more money is wasted.”

From April 2022 to March 2024, the Manitoba government spent $326,000 subsidizing electric vehicle chargers, according to the documents.

However, the government documents also state that, “records regarding usage statistics the government has on electric vehicle chargers that the government has spent money on for the past two fiscal years do not exist.”

The government is also spending $25 million to subsidize electric car purchases.

Currently, less than one per cent of vehicles in Manitoba are electric, according to a government briefing note. The average EV owner is a man over the age of 45. Fifty-seven per cent of EV owners make more than $100,000 per year. The average Manitoban earns about $60,000 per year.

“Taxpayers can’t afford the government spending money on projects without any measures of success,” Haubrich said. “Premier Wab Kinew needs to cancel this program and stop taxpayers’ money being wasted on a project the government doesn’t have any data for.”