Cablegate: Nova Scotia: Subsidies and Politics On Display in High-Tech

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

281148Z Nov 05

UNCLAS HALIFAX 000248

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EIND ECON PGOV CA
SUBJECT: NOVA SCOTIA: SUBSIDIES AND POLITICS ON DISPLAY IN HIGH-TECH
ANNOUNCEMENT

REF: HALIFAX 25

1. Subsidies and politics took center stage at the November 25
announcement that Research in Motion (RIM) would establish a
technical support center in the Halifax area, creating 300 jobs
initially and more than 1,200 over five years. RIM, the
Waterloo, Ontario-based maker of the BlackBerry, had reportedly
focused on four possible locations for the new center, and
picked Halifax on the basis of costs, an educated workforce and
provincial support estimated to be at least C$19 million.
Provincial funding includes C$5 million for recruitment and
training; the balance will come in the form of rebated payroll
taxes based on the number of jobs created.
2. With a federal election campaign looming, the initial plan to
have Nova Scotia Premier John Hamm announce the RIM decision at
his November 30 "State of the Province" speech was hijacked by
federal Cabinet Ministers Geoff Regan and Scott Brison who have
been busy in the province and region dispensing federal funding
for various programs. Although there is no announced federal
component to RIM's recent decision, Ottawa has long supported
RIM and the company was happy to go along with the change in
plan regarding the announcement. The company's CEO was effusive
in his praise of the Premier's role in bringing RIM to Halifax,
but unfortunately Hamm was on the other side of the continent at
the First Ministers' meeting, unable to attend the event.
3. The President of Dalhousie University, who was part of the
provincial team that visited RIM to sell Halifax, told CG that
workforce issues were key for the company. Instead of competing
with Toronto and elsewhere for bright computer science and
engineering graduates, RIM as an important regional employer
will be in a position to draw in graduates from across Atlantic
Canada who might otherwise have left the region in search of
work. Furthermore, the company will likely contribute to Nova
Scotia's immigration strategy (reftel) by providing job
opportunities to immigrants with science and technology
backgrounds.
HILL

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