Even so, the Sunbelt offers faster permitting, well-serviced industrial land, tax advantages for industry, and worker training. It is a very commercially aggressive region as well. Ontario, and indeed Canada, should invest more heavily in different R&D, industrial sites, and productivity-enhancing infrastructure rather than relying so heavily on direct firm-specific subsidies, while modernizing its labour laws to make the province more attractive to investors. True, Justin Trudeau’s government’s R&D funding was substantial, but largely put into ineffective and ideological industries like “clean tech.” There will always be a need for R&D, whatever the failures of past governments.







