INSIDE
JULY/AUGUST 2017 BCBUSINESS 135
Grant
Farmers
ILLUSTRATION: KAGAN McLEOD
Government subsidies
and local procurement
policies can make
industries more
competitive, but not
in a good way
by Steve Burgess
Polar express ... Get to the pain point ... A chef's table in Gastown ... Wow your Airbnb guests + more
J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 17
"You're contending with the big yachts
coming in, other rowers, the tides, the
waves, the seals, the deadheads, the
wake from the SeaBus and the wake
from the airplanes landing" –p.139
Off lıne
E V E R Y B O D Y ' S TA L K I N '
WATERCOOLER
The year 1972 was big for the political left in
Canada. In B.C., Dave Barrett led the pro-
vincial New Democratic Party to a stunning
victory over W.A.C. Bennett and the Social
Credit Party. And in the federal election
campaign of that year,
NDP leader David Lewis
took his party to a new high, thanks to the
memorable phrase "corporate welfare bums,"
coined by Lewis to describe companies that
bene€t from lavish government subsidies and
tax breaks. The issue cut across the political
spectrum back then. Now, 45 years later, the
executives at Bombardier Inc. have proved it
to be a durable concern.
The money-losing Quebec-based aerospace
and transportation manufacturer picked up
another $372.5 million in government loans
this year, bringing its total government
loans and subsidies to about $4 billion since
1966, according to think tank the Montreal
Economic Institute. Then it caused public
outrage by promptly announcing hefty
bonuses to its executives.
So it appears the public may have drawn a
line on shovelling tax dollars to a pampered
corporation. But if that kind of overt govern-
ment €nancial support is now political
poison, what kinds of government assistance
are considered kosher?
Canadian governments have regularly felt
a practical or political need to support,
maintain or even create particular domestic
