Randall Denley: Cheerleading for Mark Carney isn’t a sound economic plan, Premier Ford

Everything that’s wrong with Ontario’s approach to economic development was on full display Wednesday.

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In just one public event, Premier Doug Ford demonstrated his belief that companies need a government handout to build in Ontario, endorsed the backward-looking approach that favours old, failing industries over new ones, and continued his vigorous cheerleading for Mark Carney, whether the prime minister’s economic plans are good for Ontario or not.

The occasion was the opening of a Toronto vaccine-manufacturing plant owned by the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi. Joining Ford on stage were Federal Industry Minister Mélanie Joly and sundry other politicians.

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After explaining how Ontario’s educated workforce, abundant power, good government, etc. made the province a compelling place to invest, Ford offered the Sanofi plant as proof.

OK, but if Ontario is such a great investment opportunity, why did it take $415 million in federal money and $55 million from the province to get Sanofi to build it? That’s more than half of the plant’s $925 million cost. For all that expense, Ontario gets 300 jobs. That’s a subsidy of nearly $1.6 million a job.

How could that possibly make sense? Last year, Sanofi made a net income equivalent to $15.3 billion Canadian, but in Ontario, the company is a charity case.

“If you are going to invest in Ontario, we are going to invest in you,” Ford said.

At least the Sanofi jobs are new. Ford’s main preoccupation is fighting for past jobs, even ones that are already gone. This year’s provincial budget sets aside $30 billion for job protection and reducing the impact of U.S. tariffs.

Asked about the future of a closed Stellantis auto plant in Brampton, Ford had the chance to show a bit of economic common sense. Stellantis has signed a memorandum of understanding to sell the plant to an armoured vehicle manufacturer called Roshel. The Brampton-based company is competing for a $4.9-billion federal contract.

That could be a perfect solution for the Stellantis problem. Roshel is a Canadian-owned company that makes a product for which there is a demand. It wants to buy the plant and hire workers. Isn’t that better than griping over losing an American car company that doesn’t want to be here?

Instead of pushing that deal, Ford and Joly persisted in their demand that Stellantis bring back production to the plant, which has been closed for three years. Joly was more eager to recoup the $222 million the feds poured into the plan than she was to talk about a future for the building.

Both politicians are taking their cues from Unifor, the union that represents the auto workers. That’s not the first group one should turn to when considering the big picture.

Then, Ford was asked about Carney’s plan to privatize the operation of Pearson International Airport, which Ford called “fabulous.” He said that airports should have been privatized years ago and that “times have changed. It’s not about government funding everything.”

It’s a surprising statement from a guy who had just poured millions of taxpayers’ dollars into a foreign-owned pharmaceutical company.

Ford might want to look a little more carefully at the Pearson proposal. Far from being a financial drain on government, Toronto’s non-profit airport authority paid the federal government $235 million last year for the right to operate the airport.

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority has strong local representation as well as seats on the board for representatives of the federal and provincial governments. As a key economic driver for Toronto and Ontario, that’s as it should be. A private sector operator is almost certain to reduce local control.

The federal plan relies on bringing in a for-profit operator, presumably paying the feds more while still making a profit. Carney is talking about reaping tens of billions of dollars from selling equity in Pearson. It’s hard to see how that would work without passengers paying more.

The federal government’s planned sell-off at least offers some insight into why it hasn’t backed Ford’s desired Billy Bishop airport expansion. The feds don’t own that asset. Why help a competitor?

Far be it from Doug Ford to question a Mark Carney plan, however. The premier could haven’t been a better cheerleader for Carney if they’d given him pom-poms. Carney is “on fire,” said Ford, enthusing over this week’s economic summit.

The premier needs a reality check. His job is to represent Ontario, not Carney. Ontario’s big economic priority is getting a trade deal with the U.S., not the vague affiliation with the European Union that has suddenly become Carney’s obsession.

Ontario exports $287 billion worth of goods and services to the U.S. annually, more than 70 per cent of the province’s international exports.

If that can’t be sustained, Ford needs a plan B that doesn’t involve buying new jobs, spending billions subsidizing old jobs, or relying on Carney to put Ontario first.

National Post

randalldenley1@gmail.com

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