More money for the former C Series: Quebec families pay the price for governmental amnesia
We learned last week that a new public “investment” of $380 million will be made in Bombardier’s former C Series. Unfortunately, it seems the Quebec government has failed to internalize our provincial slogan, engraved on our licence plates: “Je me souviens” (“I remember”). Indeed, the $1.3 billion of public funds already shelled out for the C Series in 2018 no longer has any value. That money from Quebec families just melted away like snow on a warm spring afternoon.
How, then, can politicians justify the decision to make Quebecers take on this risk? The short answer is, they can’t. Just like gamblers who lose fortunes in slot machines, they’re stubbornly hoping to recover the sums already lost rather than face reality.
If provincial policy-makers think they have the means to support the Mirabel factory’s 2,500 jobs to the tune of $152,000 each, they should think again and reduce Quebecers’ tax burden instead. That way, the population of La Belle Province would definitely get its money’s worth.