As human beings, we like familiarity. Most of us like routine. We take the same route to work. We watch the same TV programs each week. A certain blogger repeats the same old mantra on a daily basis. When I was a kid, we had ‘meatloaf Thursday’. There’s a comfort in that.
So the government handing out big fat cheques to corporate Canada is just part of the landscape. I remember when the Tories were in opposition, they railed against the Technology Partnerships Canada program and singled out Pratt as the worst abuser (not paying back ‘repayable’ loans).
Now the Tories dole out $350 million.
Pratt & Whitney gets $350-million investment from Ottawa
LONGUEUIL, Que. (CP) – The federal government announced Wednesday two repayable investments totalling $350 million for Pratt & Whitney Canada to help the Montreal-area company develop gas-turbine engines.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not against ‘investments’ in R&D, high wage jobs and investments in strategic growth industries. I just have to laugh that it never – and I mean never – finds its way down to Atlantic Canada. I can’t remember the last $350 million investment in a Maritime firm (or in a multinational to invest in Atl. Canada).
Oh, we get hundreds of millions more in Equalization but good luck getting the ‘investment’ monies.
Sigh.
Normalcy.