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VICTORIA — For a moment on the weekend it looked as if the New Democrats were putting up more dollars to encourage British Columbians to make the switch to electric vehicles.

“B.C. tops up electric vehicle rebate program,” declared the headline on Saturday’s press release from the energy ministry. “The government is releasing another $26.5 million to meet ongoing demand,” advised the first paragraph.

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Reading on, one discovered that the implied top up was nothing of the kind. The New Democrats were simply releasing funding that was already committed.

The budget for the clean energy vehicle program for the financial year starting April 1 would remain at $42.5 million — the same amount as approved by the legislature during the spring session.

But with less than three months gone in the financial year, virtually all of the budget was already spoken for. Saturday’s $26.5 million came after an earlier release of $15 million.