[cmrdporcupine]

I don't think it's so clear cut. The US auto sector packing up and leaving and taking the auto parts manufacturing world with it -- which is what's happening now anyways -- wouldn't exactly create massive opportunities here, either.

[petermcneeley]

Having your own EV companies (or just own auto company) would. I think you need to think about why you find this confusing.

[wmoxam]

Who would buy these EVs if we build them in Canada?

The Canadian market cannot support a car company without exporting the majority of production. The US is our largest natural market and does not want our auto exports. It's unclear why other markets would want our EVs either.

Artificial barriers to protect an industry where we don't have an advantage (autos) which results in tariffs on a sectors where we do (agricultural products, resources) isn't sustainable or desirable.

[petermcneeley]

Even if this is the myopic best option at the end you will end up with ... a resource extraction economy. Is that really what you want?

[cmrdporcupine]

Unfortunately that (rip and ship energy / resource exporter economy) is what the conservative party wants, what the political leadership in the prairie provinces want, and it's what the US wants for us. And it's hinted at increasingly by Carney ("energy superpower") etc. You're right it's myopic and not good.

But parent poster is correct that blindly subsidizing and funding a local industry with no market will also just lead to boondoggles and failures.

Especially in the context of an uncooperative trading partner which could have been a potential export market for our production in the past but now is a hostile state trying to break apart national unity and destroy what little manufacturing sector successes we have.

We've already had major issues around the massive battery construction plants proposed here in Ontario and Quebec, that got major government support and investment.

Unfortunately this is the very difficult place the manufacturing sector in Canada finds itself in. And the Canadian working class as a whole.

I wouldn't call it myopic to be skeptical here. If there was an easy answer Canada would have taken it decades ago.

[petermcneeley]

I mean if you just control your borders you dont need government investment and support. This is the backwards way of creating tariffs. The problem is that it is asymmentric. A larger country can do that way better than a smaller. Aka they could make their product cost zero if they really want.

I hate to say it but the boondoggles of Canada are just graft. These arent investments in any real sense.

As for this line 'Unfortunately this is the very difficult place the manufacturing sector in Canada finds itself in. And the Canadian working class as a whole.'

look this is just neoliberalism. Maybe stop doing that and things will suck less.

[wmoxam]

It doesn't matter what you or I want. How much money do you think the Canadian government should put behind a domestic auto maker? 10s of billions? 100s of billions?

How much are 125k manufacturing jobs in Ontario worth? Are there no better economic sectors that we can build up?

[petermcneeley]

Iver heard its 700k total but lets not quibble. The value of economic development is difficult to measure in the mere wages or size of total industry (I mean here we are still definitely talking 10s of billons) It is the total contribution to the complexity of the economy. I think people are extremely confused about economic development because they are trained to view the world as mobile capital.

It might simply be that Canada cannot compete in any market. You have a very interesting choice at this stage. Do you A. not have an economy or B. have an economy that may require some sheltering from the world.

A mobile capitalist wants A. A human that is bound to the country probably wants B.