Sometimes it is interesting to read foreign media and their coverage of Federal government ‘largesse’. This is a story in Scandinavian Oil-Gas magazine about the federal and provincial government money being poured into a Norwegian owned company in Quebec. The incentives include C$350 million in export guarantees, $10 million from Invest Quebec and this little juicy ditty:
A free-trade agreement signed in 2007 between Canada and Norway included a clause guaranteeing a Canadian government rebate on expenses for ships built in Canadian yards. CECON called the government’s refund on expenses “grant refund guarantees towards all remaining pre-delivery instalments” on the company’s three new-build ships at Davie yard.
So, naturally, we can expect the journalist to talk about the federal largesse. The article states “Now Canada, too, is helping build Norwegian ships.”