The federal budget contains two big, new spending buckets. The first is devoted to a job where government action is long overdue. The second is being sent on a mission where government runs the risk of doing more harm than good.
But does the government have a plan to do it, and at reasonable cost? That’s unclear. Despite many peans to deliverology during its first mandate, efficient execution has not been the Trudeau government’s strong suit. At $13-billion over five years, and an estimated $4.4-billion a year thereafter, the program’s budget is already double last year’s original price tag.
Which brings us to the other big, new envelope in the budget: tens of billions of dollars of subsidies for Canada’s environmental-industrial complex. This is something whose necessity is less certain. Unlike the carbon tax, whose only purpose is lowering emissions, much of this spending is not for that purpose but for job creation.
The fine print is still to come, but it looks like Ottawa will offer benefits, through the tax system, to any company that satisfies some basic criteria. It shouldn’t matter who your lobbyist is or whether your business is headquartered in a province key to winning the next election. Meet the criteria; get the money.
Whether Canada should enthusiastically jump into this industrial-subsidy arms race, and to what extent, is a question worth asking.
acoyne Let’s face it, Liberal policies are unfriendly to business, and so our manufacturing sector has been decimated as corporations have moved production and jobs to other countries. We’re far too dependent on foreign supply chains, and big govt subsidies are the only option now. SMH
acoyne Every industrial policy is subject to a cost benefit analysis.
By “Ottawa” did you mean Trudeau & the liberal govt? Both holding the all time record for most ethically bankrupt PM, politician & and govt in Cdn history?