Can big EV investments juice up a slowing economy? 

HAMILTON, ONT. — Against a backdrop of electric SUVs and a forecast of rising unemployment, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau painted electric vehicles as an engine of growth while at McMaster University’s Automotive Resource Centre (MARC) on Wednesday.

“Our government is committed to building an economy that works for all Canadians,” he told reporters. “We’re also investing to create new opportunities for resource workers across the country, like the workers I met in Saskatoon last week who are mining the critical minerals and rare-earth elements used to make the batteries our … electric vehicles rely on.”