Justin Trudeau Sends an HQ2 Love Letter to Amazon
Canadian cities are going all out to woo Amazon’s second headquarters, including a “Dear Jeff” letter from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the company’s CEO Jeff Bezos.
In his letter, which comes on the final day of a competition for cities to make their case to , Trudeau reminds Bezos that “it is in one other that Canada and the United States have found their closest friend and ally.”
If that’s not enough to tell Bezos where Amazon’s loyalties should lie, Trudeau adds “[W]e enjoy the longest, most peaceful and mutually beneficial relationship of any two countries in the world.”
The Prime Minister did not, however, specify exactly where in Canada that Amazon should set up shop, though most of the country’s major cities--including Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary--have put their hat in the ring.
Amazon set off a frenzy among city governments this summer when it announced it was seeking to open a second headquarters outside of Seattle, and could create as many as 50,000 high paying jobs in coming years.
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As the competition came to a close on Thursday for cities to make their case, one research firm cited Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York, and Washington D.C.--but not one of the Canadian ones--as the leading candidates.
Nonetheless, Trudeau’s letter makes some strong economic arguments, along with the sentimental ones, for Amazon to make its second home north of the border.
“Canadians enjoy a universal health care system and a robust public pension plan which help support our excellent quality of life and lower costs for employers,” he states, while also talking up the country’s universities and policies to attract high-skilled immigrants.
Trudeau’s letter also appeared to include a subtle swipe at the nativist policies of the Trump Administration:
“As the first country in the world to adopt a policy of multiculturalism, we have shown time and again that a country can be stronger not in spite of its differences but because of them. Diversity is a fact but inclusion is a choice.”
One other notable feature of the Canadian cities’ pitch is they don’t offer tax breaks, which have been a controversial feature of the bids of a number of U.S. cities. Instead, the suitors have Canadian have emphasized the savings Amazon would incur from Canada’s public health system.
You can read Trudeau’s letter in full here.
See original article on Fortune.com
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