Tesla loses bid for urgent judicial review of Manitoba’s EV rebate
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Tesla’s Canadian subsidiary will have to wait longer for its day in a Manitoba court.
The company filed an application for judicial review in the Court of King’s Bench last month in which it seeks to have a judge overturn the Manitoba government’s decision to exclude the automaker from a taxpayer-funded rebate for electric vehicle purchases and leases.
The government announced Tesla’s exclusion from the program in March 2025 under the its “commitment to be elbows up” in retaliation to tariffs imposed by United States President Donald Trump, who at the time gave Elon Musk, the CEO of Texas-based Tesla Inc., a job in his administration.
David Zalubowski / The Associated Press files
Tesla’s Canadian subsidiary is seeking to have a judge overturn the Manitoba government’s decision to exclude the automaker from a taxpayer-funded rebate for electric vehicle purchases and leases.
The company, which argues the decision was unreasonable and procedurally unfair, also asked for an expedited court hearing either this month or later in the summer to have the matter dealt with urgently. However, Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Justice Sarah Inness rejected that request after a brief hearing Thursday.
“The matter needs to be heard properly, with sufficient time not only for the parties to prepare and file materials, but for the court to have sufficient time to address the issues and the arguments,” said Inness.
She set a court date for early October.
As part of the submission for an urgent hearing, Michael Parrish, a lawyer for Tesla Canada, had argued if the company continues to be excluded, it will suffer financial harm and Manitoba customers will lose out on rebates, particularly if the fund runs out of money before its court application is decided on.
About $10.8 million is left in the fund, although the government could decide to top it up.
Inness concluded the effect of not hearing the application on an urgent basis won’t be as significant as Tesla had argued and it would not be irreparable.
The government and Manitoba Public Insurance, which is also named in the court application because it administers the fund, argued the matter is not exceptional and that the legal test to hear the application on an urgent basis was not met.
Government and MPI lawyers, who said the application raises “important and significant” issues, argued the case should be heard on a normal timeline.
The respondents may file a motion seeking to have the court reject Tesla’s application.
erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca
Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Erik.
Every piece of reporting Erik produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Erik.
Every piece of reporting Erik produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Related Articles
Province, MPI want court to toss Tesla bid for review of exclusion from EV rebate program
Advertisement Advertise With Us
Advertisement Advertise With Us