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The way the Ontario Liberal government sees it, the route to a successful economy is via an ongoing supply of government handouts.

According to figures released last week, Ontario has awarded more than $900 million in grants since 2013, mainly to profitable technology firms and big automakers. Internet technology giant Cisco Systems got $220 million, Fiat-Chrysler and Honda Canada both got over $85 million, while the Ford Motor Company got over $70 million.

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The grants are on top of other subsidies worth billions more. In February Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk calculated the Liberals had handed $2.36 billion to 374 private business projects in the decade ending in May, 2015, with $1.87 billion in grants and $489 million in loans. They kicked in another $118 million between the time the report was prepared and the day it was released.

Another report, by an expert panel examining the government’s support programs, calculated that all the province’s direct and indirect grants, tax credits, and programs designed to grow certain sectors of the economy add up to about $5 billion a year.