Help in the field of batteries: understand before speaking

Warning: This text may offend some people. You may have made fire-fighting announcements at Christmas dinner.

In 2023's top economic news, we remember the billions invested by Quebec and Ottawa in the battery sector. Our two levels of government are increasingly focused on attracting major companies that make components for tomorrow's electric cars.

The largest and most spectacular (in Quebec) is the Northvolt factory, which will be built on the south shore of Montreal. Since the announcement, the name Northvolt has been debated, often in controversy.

The amounts invested are huge.

These investments carry risk, which is undeniable. Like any investment.

It is our money that our government is investing on our behalf.

Healthy discussion

So there is debate and that is normal. You don't have to agree with these government decisions. We live in a free country, everyone has the right to express their opinion…but not the right to make statements that defy all logic. When it comes to investing in industrial policy, we hear things that are hard to hear.

Let me explain.

You have every right to oppose this government aid from economic philosophy. You are against state aid to businesses. This is the case of Eric Duhaime. A coherent and predictable position.

But you have to understand its consequences. In a sector experiencing a frenzy like electric cars, major factories will be established elsewhere. In the United States, Ontario is a jurisdiction that provides government assistance. It can be argued that a healthy economy with low taxes managed by a moderate government will succeed in attracting companies from other sectors. But we must accept what we have lost.

We may also be against these investments as we do not believe in the battery sector. If you study the future of vehicle energy and conclude that a battery electric car is going to be a flash in the pan, you'd be right to cry that we shouldn't be putting our savings into it.

You may be against it because you feel the risk is too high relative to the return. Or because you believe that even an electric car pollutes in the long run, we should ditch the car altogether.

anything

But please don't say you are against the battery sector on the pretext of putting this money into education, health, employee salaries or any other current expenditure. It is embarrassing to confuse investment with the objective of obtaining future returns with current expenditure. Yet we hear it regularly.

You're confusing the amounts invested in an RRSP for a house with rent and groceries.

We are investing in the battery sector to generate more money, to generate billions that will pay for health and education between 2030 and 2060.

We may or may not believe. Agree or disagree. But think again when you confuse investment and current expenses.