Canada ethnic tensions

by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU. CHISU, CD, PMSC, FEC, CET, P. Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East In a world with a multitude of problems, where local wars are startGross mismanagement of taxpayers’ money. One must ask oneself: how long will Canadians tolerate the mismanagement of their hard-earned money. I personally hope that this will soon end, otherwise our standard of living will be affected badly. We have a rich country and we do not deserve to be treated like losers. Here are some of the facts that will make any Canadian ask who the politicians (at all levels and all parties) are, who are so blithely leading us into foreseeable disaster. Let us start with the latest worship of battery plants for electric vehicles. Both provincial and federal parties have invested heavily, using taxpayers’ money, in these highly polluting desecrations of nature, in the name of new jobs and other phantasmagoric promises. Last week the Parliamentary Budged Office (PBO) stated that the Provincial and Federal financial support for electric vehicle (EV) battery production will cost $5.8 billion more than government projections due to tax treatment of subsidies. The PBO report says the shortfall of $5.8 billion over ten years can be attributed to lost corporate income because the Canadian deal has to keep pace with the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit (AMPC) in the United States. Under the U.S. deal, manufacturers get a tax credit, based on a calculation of per kilowatt-hour of energy, but in Canada that financial support per kilowatt-hour is delivered through a taxable subsidy. "Therefore, under existing law in Canada, these payments would be subject to applicable federal and provincial corporate income tax," the report said. The PBO report makes the assumption that to stay on par with the U.S. AMPC, the subsidies will be exempt from federal and provincial taxes, which would cost about $5.8 billion in tax revenue. An analysis of government support for the EV battery deals with Northvolt, Volkswagen and Stellantis- South Korea LG Energy Solutions said that over the next ten years that support will amount to $43.6 billion, rather than the announced costs of $37.7 billion. The deals with the three manufacturers amount to production subsidies of $32.8 billion, with an additional $4.9 billion in support to build the facilities. "Of the $43.6 billion in total costs, we estimate that $26.9 billion (62 per cent) in costs will be incurred by the federal government and $16.7 billion (38 per cent) will fall on the provincial governments of Ontario and Quebec," the report said. The report, which also looked at how long it will take for governments to break even on their investments, found that: 1. The Northvolt deal has a break-even time of 11 years, two years longer than the federal government's estimate; 2. The break-even time for the $13.2-billion Volkswagen deal is 15 years; and 3. The break-even time for the $15-billion joint venture Stellantis-South Korea LG Energy Solutions now called NextStar Energy Inc. deal was pegged at 23 years. The report also assumes that government investments will be debt-financed and therefore will incur public debt charges over the next decade that could amount to $6.6 billion. Well done governments! To add insult to injury, the latest news is that the NextStar Energy Inc. plans to bring in a sizable contingent of foreign workers to help build this heavily subsidized battery plant in Windsor, Ontario. Concerns were raised when Windsor police noted that after meeting with South Korean ambassador Woongsoon Lim, about 1,600 workers from South Korea were expected to come to the community next year, to help build the plant. Though it is not clear how many workers, in total, NextStar Energy Inc. the joint venture between automaker Stellantis and South Korea's LG, plans to bring from outside Canada, this issue has drawn legitimate concerns about why the jobs are not going to Canadians. NextStar Energy chief executive Danies Lee said in a statement that the company is committed to hiring Canadians to fill more than 2,500 full-time jobs at the battery plant, and engage with up to 2,300 more local tradespeople to help with construction and installation. He said, however, that the company has to bring in workers to help build the advanced manufacturing plant. Now this is interesting: around 40% of taxpayer money will go to subsidize foreign workers’ jobs. After this news the Canadian political class is in turmoil; running, hiding and apologizing, trying to conceal their incompetence. Once again, a badly negotiated contract involving taxpayers money; but who really cares when no one is held responsible? Right? I do hope this is not just the tip of the iceberg, because we do not yet know of any other hidden issues in the contracts with the other two electric vehicles batteries companies. I suppose we will find out eventually. In the meantime, Canada Invests $444m with a company that states publicly that millennials do not want a home. Canada keeps repeating that it is spending billions on new housing, but with whom, and how does it help? Earlier this week in a frenzy to keep power for the liberals, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced $1.2 billion worth of investments to build rentals in Toronto. It turns out that over a third of those funds are going into one project at 373 Front St East; rentals planned years ago. Toronto-based Tricon Capital is one of the owners of the 855 unit project. They are best-known for buying and acquiring tens of thousands of single-family homes in a short time and good prices. Canadians may only be vaguely familiar with Tricon. The firm is a multi-billion dollar company, traded on the NYSE and TSX. The company treats single-family homes like Pacman; swallows them all. Their target is to buy 800 homes per month, and they currently have around 38,000 in their portfolio. Then they intend to rent them back to the demographic that can no longer afford those homes. Can any sane person think of a single rational reason for investing taxpayers’ money in these kinds of companies? Perhaps, as the trend continues, the misappropriations will come to light later. Do you see any similarity to the awarding of a federal contract to WE Charity to administer the $912 million Canada Student Service Grant program (CSSG)? We can look forward to the upcoming fall budget and continue to wonder. But how much longer can Canadians take it?ing at an alarming rate, Canada, once a beacon of people’s harmony, is starting to fall apart. Thi What are your thoughts?