Greater Toronto Area municipalities are putting in a prime order with Amazon for 50,000 well-paying jobs. The region’s formal bids to win the hotly contested competition for Seattle-based Amazon’s second headquarters will be submitted this week. But Ed Clark — the former TD Bank president and CEO who serves as Premier Kathleen Wynne’s business adviser — says the province “is not offering any new financial incentives to Amazon — nor any incentives that are not available to others who seek to grow or locate such jobs here.”Read more: Toronto has big challenges landing new Amazon HQ, author says“As a businessman I like this approach. Successful firms want to be in jurisdictions that are inherently attractive, and that will remain so in the future,” Clark said at a Canadian Club speech at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel on Wednesday. “This is doubly true if you are locating a head office. Companies want jurisdictions that invest in educated workforces, have livable cities, and put out a welcome mat for the best talent to bring their energy and ideas from anywhere in the world.”But Clark insisted the province isn’t sitting on its hands — and is investing in “talent” that will help the region regardless of whether Amazon comes. “No special deals. We are offering Amazon the best place in the world to do business,” he said. The Ontario government announced Wednesday it would boost “support for students in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines, including artificial intelligence, to continue to build a highly skilled workforce and support job creation and economic growth.”The hope is to increase the number of graduates in those disciplines by 25 per cent over the next five years — from 40,000 to 50,000 annually. As well, the province will spend $30 million to work with the Vector Institute — of which Clark is the chai ...
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