The Irrelevant Government Grant

This blog is written mostly tongue in cheek. Some points may be informative. Please provide your feedback.
If you suffer from self-irrelevancy, please seek professional advice.

Hello. GM Canada announced yesterday it was cutting 1,400 jobs from its Windsor plant. This was after the Ontario government had granted $235 million to GM Canada. What to make of it? My initial thought is the government grant is irrelevant.
I've never understood why any government would give a grant to a publicly held company. Isn't that company capable of raising funds on its own? Isn't that what shareholders are for?
If a company is incapable of raising funds on its own, then shouldn't some red flags be raised instead? Isn't that a warning sign something is seriously wrong? That the company may be a bad investment? That a grant may be throwing good money after bad?
I just can't see why this grant was made with no layoff stipulations. Having been through it personally, I know the fastest way for a company to look good is to lay people off. That seems to make this grant irrelevant. Pity indeed!

Regards,
Irrelevant