Justin Trudeau and his cabinet ministers fanned out across the country last week on a postbudget tour to sell a sham “grocery rebate” and tout subsidies to bring factory jobs to Canada.
Part of that package is an effort to spur low-emission electrification – to make Canada’s electricity grids greener but also expand the supply of electric power to meet the expected sharp increase in demand. In many ways, electrification is different from the rest of the subsidies. This isn’t direct competition to get companies to build here in Canada instead of the United States. In some ways, this is a federal-provincial infrastructure program.
The PM went to a Honda plant in Alliston, Ont., last Wednesday to talk about federal industrial strategy, promising it will bring the jobs of the future. The Liberals are looking forward to the official announcement of a heavily subsidized Volkswagen electric vehicle battery plant in St. Thomas, Ont.
That could end up as an expensive way to buy jobs, especially if the cost of the subsidy is high, and it doesn’t bring high-value activity such as research and development.
globeandmail That’s why provinces have surplus budgets. Ford for example cuts spending on healthcare because he receives federal funds. Imagine how much better healthcare would be if Ford spent more instead of about $800 million on a spa no one needs. fordnation