Federal budget thoughts: Show me the money

Ministers Tony Clement (R) and Lisa Raitt (L) have the finer points of welding explained to them (Photo: CWB)

Even after weeding through the political rhetoric, Thursday’s federal budget was clearly a positive sign for the manufacturing industry in Canada.

It was a surprisingly hands-on approach from a government that so often preaches hands-off behaviour. But it’s nice to see them take specific aim at skills development, because we’ve been seeing and hearing for some time now just how dire the situation is.

In his address to the House of Commons, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty declared the creation of the Canada Job Grant, something he labeled, “a bold new initiative to transform the way we provide skills training to ensure we connect Canadians with available jobs.”

With it, the government has pledged to pony up $5,000 out of a potential $15,000 in funds for workers. The remaining $10,000 needs to be matched by the provinces and small businesses.

But one nagging question remains – just how much money will go to the trades in the long run?

The country is mired in a steady, but slow, economy - so just how much money can really get put forward?

In Ontario, where the province is already dealing with a heavy debt burden, it may be hard for them to match that money while they struggle with other massive costs.

Even Alberta, as it struggles to unload it’s wealth of oil, has recently come out and said it is running at a deficit – so, the very province that could have been best positioned to match this money may not be able to. In fact, Alberta’s finance minister has already said he’s not sure where the money will come from – at least not yet, anyway.

And the job shops? Are they also going to invest in workers right now? Many small businesses might think it’s smarter to invest in new equipment, rather than training new employees – especially when worker mobility is such an issue.

Shops are constantly losing workers to wherever the work is, so maybe the investment in the employee isn’t as smart as the investment in the new, more automated laser cutter.

Of course it’s great to see an emphasis on improving manufacturing, and time will tell how well this policy will work, but one has to wonder if the carrot at the end of the stick is smaller than it seems at first glance.