Comment 28180

By A Smith (anonymous) | Posted January 13, 2009 at 23:16:08

Jason, Ontario has seen its share of federal transfers go from 26.3% in 2003-04 to 30.22% in 2007-08. Therefore, rather than being screwed over in recent years, Ontario has been become more dependent on others to pay our bills.

Furthermore, while Ontario politicians have decided to spend taxpayers money on what it thought were important drivers of the economy, namely the auto sector, other provinces have cut business and sales taxes for all businesses. The provinces that have done this, namely Saskatchewan, B.C., NFLD and Alberta have seen strong economic growth, while Ontario's role in the nation's economy has shrunk.

Therefore, excuse me if I don't buy the argument that politicians have some special insight into what sectors of the economy are important or not. The fact is, judging by recent experience, they are utterly clueless. In fact, if they were being rated on their ability to pick winning industries, they would get an F-.

While it may be true that Ontario used to be a manufacturing powerhouse, that does not mean it will be that way forever. Economies change over time, but that does not mean they become any less wealthy or productive. If government would just let the market produce what is in demand, rather than try to save dying industries, like domestic autos, we could save precious capital for newer industries.

Finally, if companies can only get money from the government, it is a pretty good sign that their prospects are not very good. If they were good, banks and other sources of capital would provide the funds they need.

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