How Taxpayers Got Burned by the Lion Electric Experiment
Over the past several months, I’ve been digging deeper into the growing financial disaster surrounding Lion Electric and the governments that backed it. What’s become increasingly clear is that taxpayers were placed on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars—without proper oversight, without transparency, and without any accountability from the people who enabled this failed experiment.
In the House of Commons this week, I raised further concerns about just how much public money has been poured into what now looks like one of the most costly missteps in Canada’s “green transition” strategy.
Quebec’s government originally mandated the purchase of electric school buses, insisting they be bought from a local manufacturer—Lion Electric. School boards and bus operators had no choice but to buy from a single supplier. But after multiple fires, widespread mechanical issues, and skyrocketing insurance and maintenance costs, the province ordered 1,200 buses off the road for full inspection. The policy that forced operators to buy these vehicles was later reversed.
Meanwhile, the financial collapse of Lion Electric left investors holding the bag, while insiders prospered. As I’ve said before, when insiders sell $33 million worth of shares before a company collapses—but after the government pumps in public funding—that’s not innovation. That’s a pump‑and‑dump.
Worse yet, the federal government played a major role in creating this mess. Ottawa contributed $50 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund. The province acknowledged its own loss exposure of roughly $140 million. And Quebec committed $480 million in its renewed school‑bus subsidy program—one that overwhelmingly benefited Lion Electric. Taken together, these commitments and losses bring the public exposure to roughly $670 million, and that number is still incomplete while we await answers from Export Development Canada about any loan guarantees it provided.
Taxpayers deserve clear answers:
- How much public money went into this program?
- How much was lost?
- Who benefitted financially?
- And why were no safeguards in place to prevent insiders from cashing out before the collapse?
I will continue pressing the government to release the full financial details, particularly regarding EDC guarantees. Canadians deserve accountability—not green‑tech fairy tales that end with taxpayers funding insider profits.
You can watch my full remarks in the House below.
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Review the official Hansard transcript.