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Originally Posted by StylinRed
hm, it hasn't really happened in the last year (at least with major firms) thanks to the US' moves to prevent 'tax inversions' from happening
but another major publicly traded company that i can recall is Valeant Pharmaceuticals from the US, and Allergan iirc
if you read the business section of 'globe and mail' they were constantly printing stories regarding US firms small and large leaving the US and coming to Canada and elsewhere
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Valeant was one of the only examples I could find actually. Their move to Canada had a lot to do with the acquisition of BioVail and being incentivized by the Quebec Gov in addition to being able to capitalize on the pharma labor market which had just endured a downturn and available office space they had in Laval which allowed them to relocate employees form other areas that cost more money.
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Originally Posted by StylinRed
so what you're saying is the conservatives tried and failed with their easing up on corporations...they also neglected our manufacturing sector (it's gone...) why not raise the taxes up a bit? we are still incredibly competitive worldwide and among OECD member states (KPMG argues Canada has the best corporate tax system with all things considered)
the NDP on the other hand wants to support the manufacturing industry and create jobs in canada...with our low dollar now, and likely for some time, i could see a manufacture sector thriving, if properly supported but the cons want to pretend that there isn't a problem, while selling away everything to foreign corporations/nations
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Everyone is so uppity about MFG, Ontario's economy is primarily service based @ 77%, manufacturing is only 12% of GDP. (Worth noting is that it was 24% back in 2000, so it's never been at the forefront of their economy, though a 50% reduction in the sector over 15 years is significant and can certainly be attributed to some degree to the CAD trading higher.)
In terms of exports from the province automobiles lead @ 34% to next in line precious metals @ 12%.
Manufacturing in Ontario is interesting, anything outside of the Auto Workers Union is actually competitive in terms of labor market cost.
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Late last week, Ontario and Ottawa agreed to extend a lifeline to the country’s struggling auto industry. The provincial and federal governments pegged their bailout package at “about 20 per cent” of the amount the U.S. will commit to the beleaguered trio of Chrysler, GM, and Ford. The Bush administration announced on Friday that it would sign over US$17.4-billion to the Detroit Three, meaning Canada’s contribution figures to be in the $4.3-billion range. But rescuing car makers with taxpayer money hasn’t proven to be a universally popular idea on either side of the border, with auto workers’ wages attracting much of the scorn. On average, Canadian auto-sector workers make about $35 an hour—$72,000 a year—plus benefits. The average wage of a Canadian manufacturing-sector employee, by comparison, is $20.75 an hour, or $41,500 a year. Could the auto workers comparatively high wages be to blame for the Detroit Three’s collapse?
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Do auto workers make too much? - Macleans.ca
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Faria noted that UAW president Ron Gettelfinger agreed to have the UAW's "all-in" wage, benefit and pension costs drop from a high of $75.86 per hour in 2007 to an average of about $51 per hour starting in 2010. By comparison, the CAW's cost per hour was $77 in 2007 and will rise to over $80 per hour by the end of the new contract. Faria said that Gettelfinger went into negotiations "with the right intention...Save jobs. The CAW strategy was to squeeze every dime out of them."[7] Hargrove was said to have "instilled backbone and an attitude that the union could always make the auto makers buckle at the bargaining table"
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Auto_Workers
When you actually take the wage of a CAW worker and factor in the benefits it's insane what those people made for assembly line work. The unions ruined manufacturing in the province just as much as the high CAD did. They still make way too much today IMO.
I've worked with a lot of people who came from the CAW and they all tell crazy stories about how much money the auto manufacturers hemorrhaged. GM was referred to as generous motors and it was literally impossible to fire anyone. One of my friends was a machinist at Magna that was under contract to GM, back in 2005 he was netting almost 10K/month to stand and watch a CNC machine + collecting benefits.
So while I'm going off on a bit of a tangent, here's the problem with MFG. The Fed can try to prop it up all they want, but globalization is a MUCH stronger force than the Fed Gov., sooner or later the only way MFG. will exist is if it's competitive with the global market.
BTW Mr. Harper launched his campaign at a manufacturing facility in QC, so I don't think he's denying there is an issue with the sector.
Again though, MFG would be more competitive here to a point if labor market costs weren't so insanely high.
Getting passed all that, I don't personally believe mfg. will be our salvation, tech and innovation will be, those industries will bolster the economy and provide the mfg. jobs. But that change will be generational, it will take many years for Canada to become a tech/innovation leader.