It’s fair to say that the outpouring of corporate subsidies by Canadian governments is without precedent in recent times. We should talk about that. Is it a wise use of public money?
Ottawa is also subsidizing a network of small pharma companies to restore Canada’s leadership in vaccine research and manufacturing. Ottawa is already home to Ericsson’s biggest North American R&D facility. The new funding will enable Ericsson to upgrade the telecom equipment it makes with advances in artificial intelligence and quantum computing.Taken together, the state subsidies amount to governments trying to launch a Canadian industrial renaissance.
Queen’s Park is kicking in about $500 million. It and Ottawa will likely be asked to provide similar support to the Windsor, Ont. battery factory planned by a joint venture of Stellantis N.V., parent of Chrysler and Fiat, and South Korea’s LG Energy Solutions. That compares with the $1 billion by which state and local governments alone are subsidizing Ford Motor Co.’s recently announced $4.7 billion EV battery plant in Marshall, Michigan.