Old time politics returning to Canada?
Bombardier has been “given” a $372 million dollar bail out by the Trudeau government. This bail out deserves closer consideration.
Trudeau’s defense of the “gift” is that it is an investment in R & D in Canada and in a Canadian company. The country will benefit from technological developments; thousands of jobs will be created.
Reality check
Time for a reality check. Bombardier has not claimed that it will create even one additional job from this money. It claims the money is needed for the company to stay viable and competitive internationally.
The money is an outright gift. No strings attached. Interest free. No percentage tie in to future product sales. Nothing, nada.
Bombardier tried to minimize the “damage” of the story by stating it had originally asked the Canadian government for a billion dollars!
Something’s rotten in the state. At the very least, something is topsy turvey. Ontario workers earning less than $40K per year will be subsidizing Bombardier employees who average over $90K annually.
Bombardier has lost more than $6 billion dollars in the last half dozen years. This new money will go into the same losing cash till.
Bombardier has never made its financial accounts public. One of its chief executives earns $6.4 million a year and this subsidy guarantees he will continue to earn at the same rate, all paid for by tax payers.
Quebec gets a bail out when one company hits tough times and it isn’t the first bail out for the company. But not one cent, err, nickel was given or lent to Alberta when oil prices tanked!
Is Bombardier too big to be allowed to fail? Eighteen thousand employees in a work force of 4 million in the province. Normal business practice would see such a company forced to reorganize, its management would be changed, auditors would examine the books for possible cost savings, and assets would be sold off to offset losses. These are standard business practices applicable to regular companies which are in financial straits. Not Bombardier.
Is Trudeau practicing politics in the way it was done long ago where accountability to the tax payer was seldom questioned or investigated?
What do you think? Could this be Trudeau’s political Waterloo?
