Massive $20 Billion Volkswagen EV Factory To Be Built In Canada

[Economy 52,842]

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volkswagen-canada-battery-plant-targets-90-gwh-capacity-its-biggest-yet-2023-04-21/

 

Volkswagen will build it's $20 Billion EV Factory (it's largest factory plant) which will be one of the largest overall plants of any company in the world and the largest in Canada, in Southern Ontario close to London (in St. Thomas).

 

The US and Canada both fought hard for the plant increasing bids to see who would get it.

 

Canada's win was expensive as the Province of Ontario + Government of Canada combined have comited to tax credits worth $13 Billion over the next decade (or over half the building costs)

 

Trudeau claims the investment was worth it because it's not just about the 1 large plant but the supply chain it will help move and grow in a low carbon sector still in its infancy, the plant is estimated to create up to $200 Billion in GDP over next few decades directly and indirectly.

[Economy 52,842]

Definitely a huge win but disgusting how this world economy makes it so that multinational companies that are this massive already can literally dangle their projects in front of politicians eyes and only agree to build on a Nation that gives them lots of free subsidies and essentially create an auction for the highest bidder while smaller and medium sized companies could never get those kinds of handouts.

 

I'm not against the subsidies if it helped us get this project and I think it will be worth it long term...

 

But im just saying in an ideal world, this kind of bribery shouldn't be used or have become a necessity in order to get large projects done by a company 

 

 

[Purrrrrr 18,075]

Imagine having the amount of money you could send everyone signed onto GGD less than 1% of it and we'd all be rich  

[Ayesha Erotica 1,924]

On 4/23/2023 at 8:02 PM, Economy said:

disgusting that multinational companies [...] only agree to build on a Nation that gives them lots of free subsidies and essentially create an auction for the highest bidder...

 

I couldn't have said it better myself. I totally 100% agree with you (once again ).

Same with Musks Tesla that was built in Brandenburg - with German subsidies.

And Disneyland Paris was built in Paris and not in Barcelona because french government paid more subsidies.

 

It may be an expensive win for Canada, but it is also a loss for Germany as Volkswagen comes from there and Eastern Europe, where VW formerly built as an alternative, and it shows that energy prices in Europe are getting so high, that Europe isn't attractive anymore and things get relocated. Technically, the US can buy all these companies from Europe, and some remain for Canada. As I've said in your other topic, there's no reason to teach your future kids Portguese (although it wouldn't be bad either if you did - I just think it's not necessary) because they will most likely not migrate to any other lusophone country as all the top companies will be in Canada or US in future and Europe will be economy-wise a thing of the passé.

 

[Ayesha Erotica 1,924]

On 4/23/2023 at 9:51 PM, catsounds said:

Imagine having the amount of money you could send everyone signed onto GGD less than 1% of it and we'd all be rich  

I know, right

unfortunately it's more likely will that our governments will introduce extra taxes upon us and force us to pay them, ultimately these subsidies come from us, the taxpayers, we were forced to subsidies corporate capitalist companies, so it's vice versa and we paid this 1% or 15% (or 45% as in Belgium) for them, and we were not even asked or consulted, they are rich b/c we are middle/relatively poor compared to them.

[dit 46,738]

On 4/23/2023 at 1:59 PM, Economy said:

in Southern Ontario close to London (in St. Thomas).

this entire region already have jobs and opportunities. Time to create jobs and attract migration elsewhere in Canada! Move it to northern Ontario and watch ppl move there if there are more jobs and better infrastructure 

 

Obviously moving to Yukon or Nunavut is too north and ppl just wont do it but some areas in northern ontario are great and just a bit colder. 

 

We need to disperse our population a little more

We already have housing issues in the whole southern southern ontario and southern Quebec region

 

[Economy 52,842]

2 hours ago, dit said:

this entire region already have jobs and opportunities. Time to create jobs and attract migration elsewhere in Canada! Move it to northern Ontario and watch ppl move there if there are more jobs and better infrastructure 

 

Obviously moving to Yukon or Nunavut is too north and ppl just wont do it but some areas in northern ontario are great and just a bit colder. 

 

We need to disperse our population a little more

We already have housing issues in the whole southern southern ontario and southern Quebec region

 

Ok but... Do u really think Volkswagen would want to build their biggest facility yet in the world up north where no one lives and far away from immediate supply chain supports they will need not to mention the diversity of large labor they will require?

 

Let's be realistic for a moment

 

Edit: and the idea of trying to disperse population is nothing new. And Ontario even put money into things like the ring of fire to support mining further up north... Other types of innitiatives for other industries could also help... But it would have to be smaller individual stuff on a smaller scale at a time not one massive plant in one swoop...

 

Norther Ontario simply wouldn't have the capacity to service a plant this large all of a sudden.

[Ayesha Erotica 1,924]

16 hours ago, dit said:

this entire region already have jobs and opportunities. Time to create jobs and attract migration elsewhere in Canada! Move it to northern Ontario and watch ppl move there if there are more jobs and better infrastructure.We need to disperse our population a little more. We already have housing issues in the whole southern southern ontario and southern Quebec region

 

indeed, now even more young people will migrate from northern Ontario / elsewhere to the London or Toronto regions which will cause (more) brain drain and an exodus of talent from the north/rural areas. The inequalities will become stronger. Younger people these days in the peripheral regions have given up hope in their home regions and already think during secondary school time  where they wanna go later and it won't be their home region. 30 years ago, young Québécois didn't know well enough English and remained within Québec, rural Québec profited from this, these days young Québécois migrate not only to Montréal, QC City but also to Anglo-Canada as if there were no linguistic borders and rural Québéc population suffers from this migration pattern and is stagnating and will experience a demographic collapse in near future, it is just not competitive to rival with Montréal+the anglo key cities, basically no big companies will ever settle in rural Québec.

 

14 hours ago, Economy said:

Do u really think Volkswagen would want to build their biggest facility yet in the world up north...? far away from immediate supply chains

Most likely not, they have a choice of competitive regions and will choose the best ones, which already are well-developed. I think what user dit wanted to say was "the Canadian government should, when it subsidies, use them for disadvantaged regions, otherwise it corrupts the idea of subsidies". You are right that the peripheral areas would most likely not have been chosen either way, still somehow the peripheral areas also pay taxes and paid for the subsidies and somehow they paid for their own demise b/c the factory will drain and pull away people  from the "economic second-class regions". The supply chain argument is a very important one, basically it leads us to:

 

"For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. — Matthew 25:29, RSV. I tell you, that to every one who has will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. — Luke 19:26, RSV."

[Economy 52,842]

20 hours ago, LoliLux said:

indeed, now even more young people will migrate from northern Ontario / elsewhere to the London or Toronto regions which will cause (more) brain drain and an exodus of talent from the north/rural areas. The inequalities will become stronger. Younger people these days in the peripheral regions have given up hope in their home regions and already think during secondary school time  where they wanna go later and it won't be their home region. 30 years ago, young Québécois didn't know well enough English and remained within Québec, rural Québec profited from this, these days young Québécois migrate not only to Montréal, QC City but also to Anglo-Canada as if there were no linguistic borders and rural Québéc population suffers from this migration pattern and is stagnating and will experience a demographic collapse in near future, it is just not competitive to rival with Montréal+the anglo key cities, basically no big companies will ever settle in rural Québec.

 

Most likely not, they have a choice of competitive regions and will choose the best ones, which already are well-developed. I think what user dit wanted to say was "the Canadian government should, when it subsidies, use them for disadvantaged regions, otherwise it corrupts the idea of subsidies". You are right that the peripheral areas would most likely not have been chosen either way, still somehow the peripheral areas also pay taxes and paid for the subsidies and somehow they paid for their own demise b/c the factory will drain and pull away people  from the "economic second-class regions". The supply chain argument is a very important one, basically it leads us to:

 

"For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. — Matthew 25:29, RSV. I tell you, that to every one who has will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. — Luke 19:26, RSV."

I'm not against that. However what I was saying is, if u want to try to subsidize growth up there is has to be a higher number of smaller projects at a time. Not one large massive one. Something like this would never make it up there.

 

Also I don't fully agree with what's being said about brain drain and young people... That was true for a long time...

 

But u guys seem to be forgetting that in that last few years many provinces and communities that were flat or negative in population growth are now growing at the fastest pace in decades as young people who cannot afford Toronto leave.

 

The trends have been changing. I think ur speaking a bit out of date. Even New Foundland is growing now and getting record numbers of young people moving in. Things are changing in that regard