After paying $300 million to GM-Posco, Ottawa and Quebec pays 640 million to Ford to construct a battery plant for electrical automobiles in Bécancour.
Earlier, the federal and Ontario governments had pledged $16 billion in state support to Volkswagen to construct a mega battery manufacturing facility in Ontario. And lots of different initiatives associated to the electrical battery sector are more likely to see the sunshine of day, offered we fund them with our personal taxes. We are actually funding multinational electrical automotive initiatives at a fee of $2 million+ for the possible job created!
A query of widespread sense à la Jos Bleau.
Have we misplaced our minds on this mad race by which the Justin Trudeau authorities and the governments of François Legault and Doug Ford have pledged billions and billions of {dollars} in authorities support to automotive battery producers to persuade them to construct their new crops in Ontario ? Quebec?
It’s incomprehensible that our governments ought to play the “massive cash bag” by granting such a sum of cash to multinational companies like Croesus with billions in income, resembling automakers GM, Ford and Volkswagen.
APARTMENT
In protection of Justin Trudeau, Doug Ford and François Legault, it needs to be mentioned that handing out this billion-dollar mountain to the electrical automotive battery multinationals is sadly the one “manner” they will have to draw us to new battery factories.
For what? As a result of the rivalry within the race for the battery factories is carried out solely by the extent of state support that governments are prepared to supply to the multinationals in query.
On this loopy race for electrical batteries, we’re specifically competitors with the American authorities of Joe Biden, which desires to speculate a number of hundred billion {dollars} within the electrification of transport. A number of European nations are additionally rolling out the purple carpet for electrical battery producers to lure them into their nations.
So, if we need to entice the development of battery factories for electrical automobiles, our governments are “doomed” to handing out billions in state support to those multinational electrical automotive corporations. Except? Properly, “only a disgrace” we received’t be attracting any of these massive factories.
THE IDEAL SOLUTION?
let’s perceive one another I’m not in opposition to authorities help (loans, grants, forgivable loans, tax credit) to companies.
Within the case of the mountain of cash we’re going to pay the electrical car battery giants, we should always ‘ideally’ have obtained in return, from our authorities investments, a ‘share’ sooner or later income these mega-vehicle-factories would possibly generate. Sure / Sure! an “curiosity” as shareholders (direct or oblique) within the factories that we are going to fund from our taxes at taxpayers’ expense.
We’ve accomplished that previously, significantly at GM. When the American multinational fell into the abyss in 2009, it was the American and Canadian governments that pulled it out of the outlet.
The US authorities had invested tens of billions of {dollars} to monopolize 60% of GM’s inventory. On our facet, Stephen Harper’s Conservative authorities injected $9.5 billion in trade for a 12% stake within the American automaker. And at last, GM had been bailed out and the federal government funding had paid off.
When governments spend money on corporations and purchase shares, typically they generate income, typically they lose cash.
We in Quebec know this very effectively. We misplaced a small fortune with our $1.3 billion funding within the Bombardier CSeries, now owned by Airbus. However by way of the Caisse de Depot et Placement, we made cash on the $2 billion funding in Bombardier Transportation. As we speak, Bombardier Transportation is a part of the enormous French practice producer Alstom, of which the Caisse is now the primary shareholder.
Ethical of this story: If our governments are prepared to speculate astronomical sums in constructing battery factories in any respect prices, I believe we might at the very least have negotiated a “shareholding” in fairness in these factories.
THE OTHER EXCESS
As a part of the in depth program to affect transportation, we’ve got awarded grants of US$12,000 (US$7,000 from Quebec, US$5,000 from the federal authorities) to help the acquisition of an electrical car for as much as US$65,000 make attainable.
Can we agree {that a} $50,000-$65,000 tank is a luxurious car? Who can afford such a automotive? These are clearly very rich individuals. Why ought to we use our taxes and levies to subsidize such a luxurious?
It appears way more cheap to me that governments would “partially” subsidize the acquisition of EVs that high out at $40,000.
A query involves thoughts. Does it actually price $12,000 extra to construct an electrical tank in comparison with constructing an equal gasoline tank?
One factor is for certain: with the a whole bunch and a whole bunch of billions of {dollars} in federal support that the American, Canadian and European governments shall be paying to the great world of the battery and electrical car industries, we’re about to create a nasty electrical bubble.
And like all bubbles, this one could burst at some point!