Conservative MPP accuses Liberals of secrecy on how businesses get government funding
Share information on ‘corporate welfare,’ Tory MPP tells Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid.
thestar.com
By Rob Ferguson
Jan. 16, 2017
The Liberal government is dragging its feet on releasing details of billions in financial aid it has given to Ontario companies since 2004, leaving a “veil of secrecy,” says Progressive Conservative MPP Monte McNaughton.
He urged Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid on Monday to “come clean” given concerns voiced by Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk that a most business assistance funding is made by invitation only.
“Taxpayers are paying a lot of money for these jobs,” said McNaughton (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex), who has repeatedly questioned whether companies donating to the Liberal party got favourable treatment.
One year has passed since the Conservatives first asked information on the corporate funding to business, which Duguid said has created or maintained 175,000 jobs since 2004, including 400 in McNaughton’s riding west of London.
“Our government has absolutely nothing to hide,” Duguid said in a statement Monday, noting data on investments from January 2013 to March 2016 has already been released.
It showed $907 million was handed out in that period, and the biggest sums went to automakers and high-tech companies.
Duguid promised information “shortly” on corporate funding from 2008 to 2013.
“Preparing this data, however, is a labour-intensive process that involves reviewing each agreement and working with each business involved,” Duguid added in the statement.
“Our government has absolutely nothing to hide ... These investments have enabled highly innovative Ontario companies to succeed in global markets, attracted major international firms ... and helped vital businesses to thrive in regions of the province that have experienced economic challenges.”
Ontario’s unemployment rate was 6.4 per cent in December and has been below the national average for 20 months.
McNaughton said the government has given money to at least 374 business projects since 2004 and insisted it’s not fair for the province to play favourites with what he has called “crony capitalism.”
“I don’t believe in governments essentially engineering an economy from the top down,” he told a news conference.
In her 2015 auditor’s report, Lysyk sounded the alarm about the targetted funding when the government could not explain why selected businesses were chosen or a list of companies that were invited to apply. Often, the money went to big businesses.
She chided the economic development ministry for “almost never” assessing why businesses needed public funding and noted “some projects were approved for funding even though there was evidence they would have proceeded without government help.”
Questions were raised about a $23-million grant in 2009 to a Toronto movie and TV animation company that abruptly closed last August, but Duguid said Arc Productions had met job-creation obligations in the deal.
He has tallied financial aid to businesses, which critics call “corporate welfare,” at $2.8 billion in the last decade.
But McNaughton said that the case of Arc Productions is exactly why the government needs to release information: so taxpayers can decide whether they’re getting value for money.
