Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

JOHN FELDSTED – It’s not fair, but it is business as usual for federal investments in Ontario and Quebec

The federal and Ontario governments have convinced manufacturing giant 3M to start making N95 respirator masks at its plant in Brockville, Ont., a move that will give Canada a domestic supply of critical personal protective equipment, CBC News has learned.

The two levels of government and the company will evenly split a financial investment of at least $70-million to boost production capacity at the existing 3M facility in Brockville, with a goal of producing masks by 2021. Both levels of government have also agreed to long-term agreements to buy masks from the company.

Federal and provincial sources tell CBC News the official announcement will be made Friday afternoon by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford in Brockville.

 

Wow! Talk about chutzpah!

I wondered about this when I saw the Doug Ford / Justin Trudeau love in on CTV news. It is a classic example of politicians putting lipstick on a pig. 3M already has a plant in Brockville. The Ford and Trudeau governments have each agreed put up $35 million to boost plant capacity to make N95 face masks in Canada.

Ontario and Canada will each receive 25 million masks each year for the next five years. That is 125 million mask each. That means each government is paying $0.28 per mask up front – before any masks are even made, let alone delivered.

As with most of these press releases, the figures are fuzzy.

The CBC states the investment is $70 million split 2 ways. Then it goes on to talk about a $23.3 million investment by each government which is really a down payment on the deal. Why can’t they just be honest?

This is not a “domestic supply”.

The plant may be located in Canada, but the company is American owned. If you wonder why I find that unsettling, you have forgotten that Caterpillar, another US-owned corporation closed its London, Ontario plant in 2012 to cut production costs.

Ontario at least gets some jobs out of the deal, and thanks to Trudeau, the rest of us get to share in the costs. That is not fair -- but it is business as usual for federal investments in Ontario and Quebec.

We now have two foreign-owned face mask plants under construction, one on Quebec, the other in Ontario.

Yes, I know Medicom is a multinational owned by a Montreal-based holding company – that had closed its Canadian plant. With plants all over the world Medicom is not domestic.

Neither the Premier or the Prime Minister seem to have the foggiest notion of what a domestic manufacturer is, which should scare the heck out of you. They are juniors in the major leagues.

John Feldsted ... is a political commentator, consultant, and strategist. He makes his home in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Budget 2027: After a Decade of Decline, NDP Budget Delivers an Assault on Seniors, Working Families, and Small Businesses

Peter Milobar, BC Conservative Finance Critic, condemned the NDP government’s latest budget as the result of a decade of decline that has left British Columbians broke, unsafe, and paying more for less.   “After ten years of NDP mismanagement, this budget is an assault on seniors, working families, and the small businesses that drive our economy,” said Milobar. “The NDP have turned their back on the people working hardest to make ends meet and the seniors who built this province.” Milobar pointed to a new $1.1 billion annual income tax increase and warned that the government is piling new costs onto households already struggling with affordability.   “This government keeps asking British Columbians for more, while delivering less,” Milobar said. “The question people are asking is simple: Where has all the money gone?” Milobar noted that BC has gone from a surplus in the first year of NDP government to a projected deficit of more than $13 billion this year, while prov...
Post a Comment
Read more

WARD STAMER -- Those are REAL forestry numbers, not just made-up numbers

The following is a condensed version of remarks Kamloops – North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer’s made, regarding Forestry, in the BC Legislature, on Tuesday afternoon (02/24/2026)   Let’s talk a little bit, when we talk about Budget 2026, about the forest industry, which is near and dear to my heart. Forestry remains one of British Columbia’s foundational industries. It’s a pillar that built this province. Entire communities depend upon it. Interior towns, northern communities, Vancouver Island regions, the Kootenays, the Lower Mainland, with manufacturing facilities in Surrey and Maple Ridge, just to name a few — everywhere in BC is touched by forestry. One word that was not mentioned in Budget 2026 was forestry. That’s a shame, an incredible shame. It wasn’t an oversight – it was intentional. This government has driven forestry into the ground .... INTO THE GROUND! We can talk a little bit about some of the initiatives that this government has brought forth, to try to resurrect ...
Post a Comment
Read more

FORSETH -- Before anyone gets excited about one poll showing a candidate with a 25 percent lead, and 44 percent support overall, let’s give it a few more weeks

Is this based in reality -- how accurate are the numbers? In the past couple of weeks a couple of candidates, for the leadership of the BC Conservative Party, have been presenting polling results that they lead the pack – one even going so far as to say they have a lock on 44% of those who will be voting, and a twenty-five percent lead over the individual ranked second. I am going to say that this one, from Kerry-Lynne Findlay, is highly suspect. First of all the company conducting the poll, ERG National Research, is not a Member of Industry Bodies (the Canadian Research Insights Council), meaning they do not adhere to established industry standards for research, such as transparency, privacy, and methodological rigor. AI Overview states that ... based on alerts from the Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC) and reports, ERG National Research should be treated with extreme caution regarding its reliability, and legitimacy, in conducting political polling. Before I even read this in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more