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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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