EDITORIAL: Corporate welfare in Canada needs to stop

Article content

Canadians were outraged to learn that the Liberal government has quietly handed over almost $50 million of taxpayer dollars to massive credit card company MasterCard.

Sun columnist Brian Lilley broke down the news in a recent story: “As part of this deal, MasterCard will invest $510 million and the federal government will give $49 million to start a global intelligence and cybersecurity centre with 380 jobs. The government’s ‘investment’ alone amounts to about $129,000 per job.”

It’s hard to know where to begin with this news.

If MasterCard wants to invest in Canada, we’re all in favour of that. We’re also fans of business friendly measures like reducing the corporate tax rate and bringing down energy costs. Canada should have a welcoming environment for businesses.

This isn’t that though. This is crony capitalism — picking winners and losers — plain and simple. When the opposition grilled the government on this, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau simply gave the usual talking points about growing the economy and supporting the middle class.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

We’re not buying it.

“Given how well past corporate handouts have gone over, it’s no wonder that Trudeau didn’t want to even attempt to answer the questions from the opposition leaders,” Brian Lilley added. “Yet, I bet he actually believes that giving your tax dollars to profitable companies helps you.”

We’ve heard that circular logic before: That taxpayers win if their money is handed out to big companies because it in turn creates jobs and grows the economy.

Thanks but no thanks. If the feds don’t need this cash to provide the basic services Canadians’ expect, then they can just give it back to us in the form of tax relief.

The bigger problem though is that this isn’t an outlier. It’s part of a longstanding trend. Whether it’s the recent headline-grabbing payouts to Loblaws and Canadian Tire, or the many other smaller business disbursements doled out by Industry Canada, corporate welfare is alive and well in Canada.

It’s not just the Trudeau Liberals who do it either. The former Conservative government had no problem with it and the provinces engage in their fair share.

It’s not right. It needs to stop.