The federal finance minister’s suggestion that Ontario is the “last place” in Canada to invest in a new business is outrageous.
Minister Jim Flaherty, who made the comment to foreign investors at a Feb. 29 Chamber of Commerce event in Halifax, has thrown aside the traditional role of Canada’s finance minister as promoter and consensus builder, and taken on the role of instigator.
It is a sad state of affairs when Canada’s finance minister repeatedly attacks Canada’s largest province. No other province would tolerate such relentless, inappropriate and unprecedented criticism. His behaviour is particularly offensive to the families who have been directly affected by the struggling Ontario economy.
The Conservative government has blatantly disregarded Ontario’s struggling manufacturing sector for more than a year. Canada’s manufacturers are struggling to compete with the soaring dollar, rising energy costs and slowing U.S. economy. In the last year, Ontario has lost 64,000 manufacturing jobs.
There are nearly 20,000 residents in Vaughan who work in the manufacturing sector. They deserve a government that will look out for their interests. Instead, we have a government led by a prime minister who reportedly tells a group of soon-to-be-out-of-work Kitchener autoworkers to move to Alberta. This cynical and inappropriate response is typical of the Conservatives’ hands-off, laissez-faire, “I don’t care” economic policy.
It was only after repeated pressure from the Liberal opposition that the Conservative government was forced to fast-track the Community Development Trust, which will provide some financial support for ailing sectors of the economy. The 2008 budget provided manufacturers sparse assistance.
“We were very specific in what the nation’s most innovative industry needed, and we received recycled ideas and pocket change at a critical time when we needed tangible solutions,” remarked Jayson Myers, president of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters.
If the finance minister truly cared about Ontario workers, he would be standing up for our ailing manufacturing sector, rather than undermining it. The federal government has the capacity to do its part to address our economic challenges if it had the will.
Liberal leader Stéphane Dion has proposed a plan that would further reduce the federal corporate tax rate, make the Scientific, Research and Experimental Development tax credit partially refundable, and support investments in manufacturing and research and development. Any surplus beyond the contingency fund would go towards addressing our infrastructure deficit.
Investing in our future will keep Ontario and Canada strong for our children. This is what economic leadership is all about.
