The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.
IT has become standard procedure for campaigning politicians to change their minds once in office — if they ever had any intention of keeping some promises in the first place. “Read my lips, no new taxes,” was George H.W. Bush’s way of phrasing it, but many seeking office in Canada have done the same. Departing Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said as much in advance of the 2003 election campaign, only to introduce the Ontario Health Premium, the largest tax increase in post-war Ontario.
Pauline Marois sees things another way, at least in so far as northern Quebec is concerned. Running against Liberal Jean Charest, the Parti Quebecois leader had little good to say about his signature regional development policy, Plan Nord, which seeks to stimulate industrial activity north of the 49th parallel. But now that Marois is premier, and with mining potential that may be on a par with that in Northern Ontario, Marois is allowing for the possibility of tax incentives to attract mining projects to Quebec’s Far North.
The difference between Quebec and Ontario’s approach is important because it signals the McGuinty government’s unwillingness to engage in hard bargaining in spite of holding the high cards.
Marois has stipulated that in order to be eligible for the tax credits she once eschewed, mining companies would have to process their ore in Quebec. This, of course, results in far greater economic benefit to the host region and province than if raw ore is shipped elsewhere — usually to low-cost, low-wage places chosen by companies to maximize profits.