Trudeau to announce $37.5M investment in biotech company

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to visit the Charlottetown biotechnology company BioVectra Monday morning, and will announce an investment that will support 150 new jobs.

The deal is worth $37.5 million and is part of a $144.6 million project to expand the company’s facilities in Charlottetown and Windsor, N.S.

BioVectra manufactures pharmaceutical products used in the treatment of cancer, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and multiple sclerosis.

Trudeau has several events scheduled in the Charlottetown area Monday morning.

His morning started with a Liberal Party fundraising breakfast at the Delta Prince Edward.

Speaking at the breakfast, Trudeau outlined what he saw as some of the accomplishments of his government.

They included the lowest level of unemployment in decades and a decrease in poverty levels. He noted housing is a massive priority on P.E.I.

He also outlined the difference between how his party deals with the anxiety Canadians have about the future, and how he believes the Conservative party will deal with it.

“Conservatives are going to keep trying to scare people about the future, and we’re going to be showing people how we’re going to build a stronger future together,” he said.

The Liberals will do that through investment in research and skills development, he said.

After the breakfast Trudeau met with Premier Wade MacLauchlan and P.E.I. MP Lawrence MacAulay, the new veterans affairs minister.

MacAulay and Trudeau will go from that meeting to the head office of Veterans Affairs Canada to meet with employees there.

Following that Trudeau will take a tour of BioVectra to make the funding announcement..

Trudeau is scheduled to leave P.E.I. following that visit for an event in Mississauga, but all of his events are dependent on the weather. A major winter storm is due to strike the Island Monday morning, with up to 35 centimetres of snow possible.

Trudeau’s visit comes at a difficult time for his government, with allegations that he and members of his staff that acted inappropriately in conversations then attorney general Jody Wilson-Rabould about the potential prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.

A small group of protestors carried signs outside the Delta Prince Edward Monday morning. One sign read “Say no to carbon tax,” and another “Stop pipelines.” Some of the people told Radio-Canada they are members of the yellow vest movement. Police stepped in to disperse some protestors who blocked the intersection of Queen and Water streets.

CBC