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Manley said the principles at stake are similar to those arising from the political fight in British Columbia over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, where a new provincial government is trying to block a project that has already received all the necessary federal and provincial permits.

He urged caution. “Among Ontario’s strengths are its reputation for fair dealing and respect for the rule of law,” he said.

Manley’s point was reinforced by Sabine Sparwasser, Germany’s Ambassador in Canada, who said she is concerned about the threat to a project that is near completion. “Germany wants to do more with Canada and Ontario but this would not send a good message to investors,” she said.

It is disconcerting in the extreme that governments across Canada keep getting in the way when what the country really needs is for them to get the hell out of the way.

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Bill Morneau, the finance minister, signalled a Damascene conversion to the competitiveness agenda in an interview with Bloomberg on the weekend, months after introducing a budget that sprinkled $6.5 billion on a variety of social programs and showed no tangible concerns that investment is seeping south of the border, attracted by lower tax rates and less stringent regulation. Morneau now says he will introduce a fiscal update later this year that will address business taxation, oil pipelines and the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

It’s about time. The foreign direct investment climate in Canada has deteriorated steadily since 2013 — a combination of external factors such as U.S. tax cuts and a falling oil price, as well as internal political moves like rising electricity prices, tighter regulation, an increase in the minimum wage, carbon taxes, the failure to push through oil and gas pipelines, higher debt costs, and increased taxes on high income individuals and small businesses.

White Pines is less about “progressive” environmental politics than politically-motivated NIMBYism. In that regard, it is similar to Dalton McGuinty’s gas plant decision, and, regardless of the attempt to block compensation, the results are likely to be similar, with the taxpayer on the hook.

Ford should think again before White Pines’ turbines thresh his reputation for trustworthiness among international investors.