Ubi Soft is expanding it’s presence in Canada, and with the expansion comes 800 jobs which means 800 hundred more families happy, spending cash while boosting the city’s economy right? Well it’s not all rosy. The Canadian government had to fork up $260 million in order to seal the deal which they did. But one columnist is taking issue, even going as far as to depict gaming studios as cooperate welfare beneficiaries.
Marcus Gee who writes for Toronto’s Globe & Mall dismantles Ontario’s government as competing for positions and rankings rather than dealing with the tax payers business. The government is already facing a $18.5 billion deficit and the Ubi deal dumps even more cash in the hole. Also Toronto’s subsidy to Ubi Soft could make Canada the “third largest television, film and digital-media cluster in North America.” here’s more of what Gee had to say:
"That quarter-billion has to come from somewhere, much of it from good Toronto businesses that don't have the buzz factor to attract an open-collared premier. Their tax burden will rise, and their business will suffer, while the cool kids in the video-game industry collect government cheques."
Gee goes on stating that developers are notoriously a “footloose bunch,” and that nothing prevents them from storming out if conditions change or a better deal is offered somewhere else. Seems to me as if Mr. Gee have some serious concerns about the aforementioned deal, and I believe with some good reasons. We are in tough times and the subsidy package offered to Ubi Soft is very expensive on the tax payers, it literally translate to $329,000 per job.
07/20/09 Ernice Gilbert
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