The head of Ontario’s Amazon bid says province won’t offer billions in grants
TORONTO — The man heading up Ontario’s effort to lure Amazon to the province said Thursday that while the province would consider sensible incentives, the bid will not offer billions in subsidies to the tech giant.
Providing large taxpayer subsidies to the firm wouldn’t be fair to other companies that have set up shop in Ontario with little or no government assistance, said Ed Clark, who was appointed last week by Premier Kathleen Wynne to head up the Greater Toronto Region’s bid to become the home of Amazon’s new corporate headquarters.
The region’s bid to Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos will highlight other strengths such as the province’s skilled workforce, Clark said, adding that the province would be willing to make other contributions like helping the company secure land.
“There are clearly places in the United States that will, I use the word, bribe, people to come,” he said. “(They) say you just tell us what cheque you want us to write, we will write that cheque. We’re not in that business.”