The Toronto Star contends that Premier Dalton McGuinty’s $500 million auto-investment fund (nearly half of which went to General Motors) was money well-spent, and speculates on what the industry might look like today had the provincial government not forked over taxpayers’ money to secure $7 billion in new automotive investment – thereby enabling Ontario to overtake Michigan as North America’s No. 1 auto producer.
Your editorial conveniently neglects to mention the fact that much of that $7 billion in investment and increased production came from new automobili Canadian auto manufacturers like Honda and Toyota, which, instead of laying off workers, are expanding their workforce and providing new jobs without the benefit of direct government handouts.
Your defence of the Ontario government’s decision to provide corporate welfare with no strings attached to the Big Three automakers is somewhat misguided and short-sighted. McGuinty’s plan has only enabled uncompetitive vehicle manufacturers and overpaid CAW workers to continue building gas-guzzling, smog-producing behemoths that nobody wants for a couple of more years, and has only served to postpone the inevitable decline of these dinosaurs. Read the rest of this entry »
