Canada's Industrial Renaissance
Canada's prosperity is rooted in its ability to produce and manufacture goods. However, this capacity has waned in recent years due to American tariffs, economic pressure, and threats to sovereignty, as well as China capitalizing on the West's abandonment of domestic manufacturing.
The jobs that once sustained middle-class Canadian families have fueled China's economic rise, leading to a crisis at home where climate change is ravaging communities, choking cities with wildfire smoke, destroying infrastructure, and costing billions of dollars annually.
To combat this, Luke Hildebrand, a Kenora-based lawyer and President of the Kenora-Rainy River Ontario NDP, proposes a new industrial strategy on a scale not seen since World War II. This would involve government coordinating resources to achieve common goals, much like it did during wartime when Canada declared war against Nazi Germany.
The wartime effort saw 28 Crown corporations created where markets alone couldn't deliver, with Victory Aircraft producing hundreds of Lancaster bombers and Polymer Corporation securing Canada's synthetic rubber supply. Excess profits were taxed at a rate of 100% and re-invested in domestic production.
Today, instead of bombers and ammunition factories, Hildebrand advocates for water bombers to combat wildfires, plants producing transformers, electric buses, rails, and trains to power a modern industrial economy, as well as infrastructure like nickel from Sudbury for durable appliances and advanced manufacturing.