Business Law - Tesla Motors Canada ULC V Ontario

Running head: BUSINESS LAW
BUSINESS LAW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Issue:
 Whether the Government of Ontario has applied reasonable rule of law in
deciding the terms and conditions of the subsidy program in the issue?
 Whether the rules of the subsidy program are in compliance with the purpose
of the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act, 1990?
 Whether the Government’s decision to exclude Tesla concerning the terms
and conditions of the Rebate Program was feasible under the Public
Transportation and Highway Improvement Act?
 Whether the doctrine of justiciability as a rule of law is enforced in this case
concerning the decision of the Government?
 Whether the doctrine of reasonable and just decision making as a rule of law
is enforced in this case by the Government authorities while taking the
decision of exclusion of Tesla?
 Whether the doctrine of procedural fairness as a rule of law is enforced in this
case by the Government authorities while sending the letter in issue to the
tesla company?
 Whether the Government acted in an arbitrary and unreasonable way against
Tesla Company regarding the case in the issue?
Rule:
The court while deciding the case taken into consideration the rule envisaged
under section 118 of the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act
regarding the use of discretionary power of the Government authorities. Further, the
court took into account principles of Rule of law such as the doctrine of justiciability,

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principle of just and reasonable decision making, exclusion of arbitrary use of power
and finally the rule regarding procedural fairness.
Analysis:
In the present case of Tesla Motors Canada ULC v Ontario (Ministry of
Transportation), it has been held that The Government of Ontario under Premier
Ford’s new leadership pronounced the end of an electric car subsidy program on
July 11, 2018. The main purpose of this program was to promote zero-emission
vehicles. When the government initially announced the winding up of the rebate
program, it made a promise to respect the incentive for vehicles that were bought
from a franchised dealership. Furthermore, the announcement stated that those
vehicles will be honored which were delivered and registered by September 10th,
2018. It has also been declared that the government would allowed a two month's
expansion for few orders for suitable vehicles application for which had already been
applied. However, the government specified that application will be admitted from car
dealers, car owners, and forthcoming car owners only if few pre-requisite conditions
have been met, they are;
Only those vehicles are eligible for the incentive which has been delivered to
the purchaser before July 11 or have been registered or plated before the same
date. Those list stocks or orders prepared for dealerships with producers on or
before July 11, will also be eligible for the proposed incentive provided that the
delivery of the vehicle to the purchase has been made before July 11, or have been
registered or plated before the same date.
The Government’s announcement further contained a statement that letters
sating about further actions about the transition program will be sent to the dealers of

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the car. However, the letter received by Tesla in this regard from the Government’s
part contained some information that the company is illegible to be considered as a
part of this program because the incentive would only apply to those orders that
have been placed or made by a licensed automobile dealership and not in those
cases where the consumers have ordered the vehicle straightway from the real
manufacturer. In this case, it has been considered by the Government that Tesla
Motors Canada is not a licensed business, therefore it was excluded by the terms of
this letter.
Tesla tried to contact multiple occasions with the Ministry of Transportation
multiple times after receiving the letter but could not succeed in the same.
Thereafter, the company condemning the decision of the Government as stated in
the letter appealed for judicial review. The company has claimed that due to the
decision of the Government the company and its 600 customers are going to suffer a
loss of $14,000 for the vehicles that have been already been ordered but not yet
delivered. The company further alleged that the Government treated them in an
unfair way comparing to other car companies. They further claimed that they are the
only company to receive such a letter for declining incentive and it is their belief that
unbiased judicial review would let them eligible to receive the rebates during the
transitional periods as declared by the Government. The company also added that
the decision made by the Government determining Tesla Company’s status is
arbitrary and unreasonable.
The first question in issue, in this case, was whether the Government's
decision to exclude Tesla concerning the terms and conditions of the subsidy
Program was allowable under the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement
Act, 1990. Further, the question in issue was whether the terms set out in the