Ontario to bid for Amazon HQ2 by investing in education, not offering incentives
The region’s formal bids to win the hotly contested competition for Seattle-based Amazon’s second headquarters will be submitted this week.

TheStar.com
Oct. 18, 2017
Robert Benzie

Greater Toronto Area municipalities are putting in a prime order with Amazon for 50,000 well-paying jobs.

The region’s formal bid to win the hotly contested competition for Seattle-based Amazon’s second headquarters will be submitted Thursday by Toronto Global, the arms-length group representing local municipalities.

But Ed Clark, the former TD Bank president and CEO who serves as Premier Kathleen Wynne’s business adviser, says the province “is not offering any new financial incentives to Amazon, nor any incentives that are not available to others who seek to grow or locate such jobs here.”

“As a businessman, I like this approach; successful firms want to be in jurisdictions that are inherently attractive, and that will remain so in the future,” Clark said at a Canadian Club speech at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel on Wednesday.

“This is doubly true if you are locating a head office. Companies want jurisdictions that invest in educated workforces, have livable cities, and put out a welcome mat for the best talent to bring their energy and ideas from anywhere in the world.”

But Clark, who was asked by Wynne to coordinate the province’s support for Ontario cities wanting to bid on the Amazon project, insisted Queen’s Park isn’t sitting on its hands.

That’s why the government is investing in “talent” that will help the region, regardless of whether the firm comes.

“No special deals. We are offering Amazon the best place in the world to do business,” he said.

The Ontario government announced Wednesday it would boost “support for students in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines, including artificial intelligence, to continue to build a highly skilled workforce and support job creation and economic growth.”

The hope is to increase the number of graduates in those disciplines by 25 per cent over the next five years, from 40,000 to 50,000 annually.

As well, the province will spend $30 million to work with the Vector Institute, of which Clark is the chair, to increase the number of professional applied masters’ graduates in artificial intelligence to 1,000 a year within five years.

That’s designed to help the Ontario municipalities, including the Toronto region, Ottawa, and Hamilton, vying for Amazon’s headquarters.

Amazon has attracted bids from Boston, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Washington, and a slew of other cities for its second head office.

Another Canadian city submitted its bid Wednesday as Halifax announced its pitch. But even the bid’s biggest proponent admits it’s a long shot.

Mayor Mike Savage would not reveal specifics about the city’s submission for the company’s new headquarters, but said Halifax’s quality of life was emphasized. Savage said he’s aware Halifax does not meet all the requirements, but said that doesn’t mean the city is not a “serious competitor.”

Clark stressed the political realities stateside may make it difficult to create jobs in Canada, instead of the U.S. when a final decision is announced next year.

“We all recognize the political issues for Amazon in picking a location outside the U.S. borders. It’s a big obstacle and it’s no secret. We know that the ultimate decision may not be based on business metrics alone.

“These days, politics south of the border is unpredictable,” he said.

Indeed, U.S. President Donald Trump often attacks Amazon on Twitter and its founder Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post.

“If that’s not a constraint, we’re hands-down the winner,” added Clark.

“The American dream hasn’t died; it just lives here in Canada.”

Amazon, the online shopping giant that already employs 380,000 people, is promising to bring the winning city up to 50,000 jobs, which pay an average annual salary of $100,000 (U.S.)

“We expect to invest over $5 billion in construction and grow this second headquarters to . . . be a full equal to our current campus in Seattle,” the company said in September.

“In addition to Amazon’s direct hiring and investment, construction and ongoing operation of Amazon HQ2 is expected to create tens of thousands of additional jobs and tens of billions of dollars in additional investment in the surrounding community.”

On Tuesday, Toronto’s bid got a boost from another American tech powerhouse.

Dan Doctoroff, the New York-based chief executive of Sidewalk Labs, the Google sister company that plans to transform the east downtown waterfront into a model clean tech community, hailed the city.

“If Amazon sees what we see in Toronto, they should be coming here,” Doctoroff told the Star’s David Rider.

Toronto Mayor John Tory has been a big backer of the regional bid.

Tory has emphasized that Toronto, already the third-largest tech sector in North America, trailing only San Francisco and New York, is home to 11 universities and colleges offering more than 60 technology-related programs.

The region’s cultural diversity is also seen a plus with the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area welcoming 100,000 immigrants a year and local residents speaking more than 150 different languages.

Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid acknowledged that some other jurisdictions will get into a bidding war for Amazon’s headquarters, offering tax breaks, cash incentives and infrastructure improvements.

“We’re not going to buy Amazon to come here. We don’t need to buy Amazon to come here, because we have the competitiveness and the best talent in North America today,” the minister said.