(This column originally appeared on the Toronto Sun)
Last week, federal Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains announced new details about the federal government's plan to grow Canada's economy: hand out nearly a billion dollars in taxpayer money to a few businesses who are willing to ask for it.
To the minister's credit, he had the good sense not to express it in such candid terms. In the rich tradition of rhetorical poli-babble, he chose far more exciting phrases such as "jumpstarting innovation" "meaningful economic activity" and "superclusters".
But try as he might to apply lipstick to this pig, it's still the same old swine underneath.
