Ottawa blocks rebate payments to Tesla, bars it from future subsidies – National [Video]

The federal government is pausing payments that are to be made to EV-manufacturing giant Tesla under Ottawa’s subsidy program and has barred the company from future rebates in other programs until the threat of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada is withdrawn, Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland’s told Global News.

Freeland is currently running for re-election as the Liberal MP for University-Rosedale.

“As soon as I became Transport Minister, I asked the department to stop all payments for Tesla vehicles in order to fully examine each claim individually and determine whether all are eligible and valid. No payments will be made until we are confident that the claims are valid,” Freeland told Global News in an emailed statement.

According to the Toronto Star, Tesla filed 8,653 rebate claims over a 72-hour span in January shortly before the program was set to end.

Freeland added that the company, which is owned by key Trump aide and billionaire Elon Musk, will not be …