Fedeli promoting Ontario at international Biotech Showcase
Ontario’s Minister for Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade is back on the road drumming up business for the province.
Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli is at the 18th Annual Biotech Showcase, a major life sciences conference in San Francisco.
“We do very, very well. We landed AstraZeneca and Roche,” says Fedeli. “One of those companies made an $800 million investment in Ontario last year as a result and hired 800 people. Roche is in for several hundred million dollars as well.”
He adds they’ve cancelled all their shows in the United States, except for ones that are international events, like this one.
“It’s just so much easier to see them all together in San Francisco than to be in Switzerland, the U.K., Germany and so on,” he says.
As for U.S. tariffs, which started in March last year, Fedeli says in some ways we’re in a better place, but in others we are not.
He says they’ve done well around the world, noting he’s been to 20 countries this past year and all of them want to know how to work together, without the U.S., China or Russia.
On the flip side he says there’s trade with the U.S.
“We still don’t have true free trade with the United States anymore,” says Fedeli. “We still have 50% tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper and almost 50% on wood. No, we’re not any better on that side, we’re worse.”
He says there’s a lot of work left for the federal government to do on that front.
Last week, Fedeli was in Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show.
Richard Coffinhttps://www.mynorthbaynow.com/Richard Coffin has been a reporter and news anchor on the radio in North Bay for over 25 years. From premiers to people in the neighbourhood, he enjoys connecting with newsmakers and writing stories that matter to area listeners on a variety of topics including healthcare, education, politics, sports and more.