Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has criticized the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) Yves Giroux for his estimation that the federal government’s deal with Volkswagen will cost taxpayers over $16 billion. She argues that Giroux’s estimate is incorrect because it did not account for tax adjustments. The PBO estimated that the federal government will need to provide $2.8 billion in tax adjustments to achieve parity with the production subsidies offered in the United States. Freeland disagreed with Giroux’s conclusions and stated that Canada cannot afford to lose investments to the United States. This is not the first time members of the federal cabinet have disagreed with the PBO’s estimates. In a previous report, the PBO estimated that Ottawa’s Clean Fuel Regulations would increase the cost of gas in Canada by 17 cents per litre by 2030, but the Environment Minister called this analysis incomplete. The PBO defended his estimates, stating that they were based on figures provided by the Environment Department.