No matter how he tries to spin it, for federal finance minister Jim Flaherty to suggest Ontario is the “last place” new business investment would go is just simply outrageous.

With friends like this, who needs enemies? It’s galling enough that a federal minister uttered such a damaging statement, but doubly so that it came from an MP from Ontario and a former provincial finance minister.

Flaherty made the comment in a speech challenging the provinces to reduce corporate taxes to 10 per cent by 2012, and create a national “brand” for business taxes. But he seemed to save his toughest comments for his home province.

“If you’re going to make a new business investment in Canada, and you’re concerned about taxes, the last place you will go is the province of Ontario,” he was quoted as saying.

We all know that Flaherty has been locked into a very public feud with Premier Dalton McGuinty, blaming the province’s 14 per cent corporate tax rate for the province’s economic woes, including job losses in the manufacturing sector.

There’s nothing wrong with Flaherty suggesting the province’s corporate tax rate is too high to attract investors. But the manner in which he made that suggestion obliterates any benefit that might have come from the observation.

Instead, it just looks like another in a long line of partisan shots from the finance minister, and other members of the federal government, against McGuinty’s Liberal government.

These tactics are surprising for a government that needs electoral support from this province to win a majority. The real problem for the Conservatives is that Ontarians start to view the noise as attacks on Ontario and not its government.

You can’t imagine any federal minister saying similar things about Quebec or Alberta. So why is it okay when it’s about Ontario?

McGuinty is right to stand up for Ontario. That’s his job. He’s doing it more vocally than former premiers, and that might be one reason for the anger directed his way from Ottawa.

In days gone by, Ontario was expected to be the ‘big man’ of Confederation, to take the high road for the benefit of the country. That was easy to do because the province was ‘top dog’ in the land. It had the wherewithal to fuel many of the national government’s programs, such as equalization.

That’s no longer the case. The province’s leaders can’t afford to stay quiet with respect to Ontario’s problems, including job losses and demands to financially assist its manufacturing sector.

And before he throws stones, Flaherty should consider how much of his house is made of glass. The federal corporate tax rate is currently 19.5 per cent. Ontario’s is somewhere in the middle of the national pack.

Many economists also challenge the feds’ decision to cut the GST by two percentage points, removing billions of dollars the feds may well need if the country is headed into recession, and money which could have been used to assist the province’s manufacturing sector.

Ontarians expect Flaherty to provide solutions to the province’s woes. End this destructive war of words before they start to take it personally.