Premier Dalton McGuinty cloaked himself in green this week in announcing a whopping rebate of up to $10,000 for buyers of electric cars. "We want to make it easier to buy green cars," he told a press conference launching the program.

But the rebate has raised as many awkward questions as words of praise for the provincial government.

Why, for instance, is the rebate just for electric cars that are recharged by plugging them into an outlet overnight? Why not for other "green" vehicles, such as hybrids that do not require plugging in or conventional cars that get high mileage? Toyota and Honda, which make cars of those descriptions, would like to know. And both these Japanese automakers have plants in Ontario.

A Toyota executive was quoted saying that the $10,000 rebate seems aimed at "advancing a particular product and helping a particular company." That's a reference to General Motors, of which Ontario is now a minority owner. GM hopes to be a front-runner in the electric car market with its new Chevy Volt. Underscoring this point, McGuinty made his announcement standing beside a Volt at a GM dealership.