A year ago, this column described the Justin Trudeau governmentB次元官网网址檚 plan to borrow and spend close to $1 billion on an B次元官网网址渋nnovation and skills planB次元官网网址� to create B次元官网网址渟uperclusters.B次元官网网址�

B.C. got its own supercluster last week, part of a nation-wide network announced by federal Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains. Ours is the Digital Technology Supercluster, getting an undisclosed share of the $950 million set aside in the 2017 federal budget.

What are superclusters, you may ask. TheyB次元官网网址檙e like the innovation clusters announced in the 2016 federal budget, only bigger. According to Bains, their job is to B次元官网网址渟upercharge CanadaB次元官网网址檚 regional innovation ecosystems and build Canada as a global centre for innovation.B次元官网网址� The B.C. one in particular is B次元官网网址渁 made-in-Canada Silicon Valley that will create tens of thousands of jobs.B次元官网网址�

ItB次元官网网址檚 not all tax dollars. TELUS, Microsoft, Teck, Canfor and other corporations have committed $500 million, along with most of B.C.B次元官网网址檚 post-secondary institutions, led by UBC.

Bruce Ralston, B.C.B次元官网网址檚 Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology, was thrilled to announce B.C.B次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渨inning bidB次元官网网址� for a share of the federal cash. But of course, in the Ottawa style, there were no losing bids. Atlantic Canada B次元官网网址渨insB次元官网网址� an Ocean Supercluster, Quebec gets one devoted to artificial intelligence, OntarioB次元官网网址檚 is for B次元官网网址渘ext-generation manufacturing,B次元官网网址� and the prairie provinces get a Protein Industries Supercluster based in Saskatchewan.

This so-called innovation bureaucracy is on top of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 regional economic development programs. Stephen HarperB次元官网网址檚 Conservatives railed against political slush funds like the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, and then when he got into government, he set up Western Economic Development Canada to even things up. Now we have supercluster blobs of icing on the business subsidy cake.

The newly created Protein Industries Canada web page illustrates how contrived this whole thing is. B次元官网网址淥utcomes from this cluster will be a new range of plant-derived foods, ingredients and feedstuffs of superior quality, commanding market premiums.B次元官网网址�

Feedstuffs? Only in Canada, eh? Perhaps these buzzwords and subsidies mean that shoppers will be able to find Canadian-made mustard at their local supermarket, considering the Canadian prairies are the largest mustard seed producer in the world. From FrenchB次元官网网址檚 to Grey Poupon, our finished product is mostly made in the U.S. by multi-nationals.

Back to B.C., where Microsoft and other high-tech giants have set up branch plants in Vancouver, or bought startups. ItB次元官网网址檚 a natural extension of the original Silicon Valley, which has always extended to the Seattle area, home of Microsoft, Amazon and others.

ItB次元官网网址檚 similar to the B次元官网网址淗ollywood NorthB次元官网网址� movie business. Same time zone, attractive climate, great scenery, oh, and whopping government subsidies.

Why donB次元官网网址檛 more investors, high tech or otherwise, set up shop in B.C.? Is it a lack of subsidies and B次元官网网址渋nnovationB次元官网网址� programs by governments? The B.C. government has just appointed an B次元官网网址渋nnovation commissionerB次元官网网址� to go with the B次元官网网址渋nnovation advisorB次元官网网址� appointed last year by former premier , to try to induce entrepreneurial activity here.

When the Trudeau government announced the B次元官网网址渟uperclustersB次元官网网址� plan last year, they acknowledged that one of OttawaB次元官网网址檚 biggest problems was too many B次元官网网址渋nnovationB次元官网网址� programs B次元官网网址� an astonishing 140 of them. The 2017 budget promised to review and simplify them.

IB次元官网网址檝e searched for news that this has occurred, and I couldnB次元官网网址檛 find any. What we have instead is more layers, at the federal and provincial level.

And what else has the new B.C. government done to attract risk-taking entrepreneurs? It has re-introduced an extra tax bracket for people making more than $150,000 a year, bringing their total tax burden up to half of their income.

Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca