The new Conservative government of Ontario is not shy about loosening fiscal regulations in the province and will soon be advertising that with a “big sign” on the U.S. border. It will tell potential American investors that Ontario is “open for business,” the Toronto Star reports.
Throughout both his leadership campaign and the provincial election campaign Premier Doug Ford consistently promised to turn the Ontario economy around by inviting business opportunities. Ontario trade minister Jim Wilson said Wednesday that the promise will be confirmed with a sign on the New York border with Ontario.
“It’s coming soon,” Wilson told the provincial legislature Wednesday, also noting that the contract to produce the sign would not be going to Deco Labels and Tags, the Ford family company.
Ford actually referred to putting a sign up when he campaigned last May. “Today, Buffalo and Niagara are bragging about all the jobs they’re taking from us, because of Kathleen Wynne’s high hydro rates, high taxes, and red tape,” he told a partisan crowd.
“We’re going to put up a big sign on the border that says ‘Ontario is open for business.’”
Though interim Ontario Liberal leader John Fraser suggested Ford has “inherited one of the strongest economies in the world,” in a response to Wilson’s announcement, the per capita debt of the province is larger than that of California and hydro rates are among the highest in North America.