Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau says he is “saddened” by job cuts announced by Bombardier Inc. on Wednesday morning, but that Ottawa had no role in the simultaneous order of 45 new Bombardier C Series aircraft by Air Canada.
Following the news that 7,000 Bombardier employees would lose their jobs over the next two years — a third of those in Canada — Garneau held a media availability that was cut short by a fire alarm on Parliament Hill.
“We must all remember that our fellow human beings and their families that will be affected,” Garneau said. “However, today’s Air Canada’s announcement is also very good news.”
On top of the 45 aircraft that it will definitely be ordering, Air Canada has the option of purchasing an additional 30 planes, bringing the total to 75. The minister was asked directly if he, or anyone else in the Liberal government, had pushed for the purchase in order to bolster Bombardier’s financial situation.
“The government of Canada did not put any pressure on Air Canada,” Garneau replied. “Air Canada makes its own decision with regards to purchasing its own aircraft.”
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Quebec has already made a $1.32 billion commitment to prop up Bombardier’s struggling C Series jet program, and Bombardier CEO Alain Bellemare formally asked Ottawa for money late last year.
NDP leader Tom Mulcair said the “silence” that has greeted that request in recent months likely contributed to the company’s decision to slash 7,000 positions.
“What we’ve had from the Liberals in the past four months is deafening silence when it comes to Bombardier,” he said. “It’s incompetence, pure and simple.”
Bombardier needs federal help “to get to the finish line” on the C Series, Mulcair added, and Ottawa could do several things to prop it up. He suggested that the government could provide more financing for innovation in general, and play “a more positive role” in terms of marketing Canadian-made planes across the globe.
“It’s the job of the federal government to be present,” Mulcair said. “The least (the Liberals) could have done is come up with a plan … where’s the Liberal plan to help aerospace?”
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Conservative MP and economic development critic Maxime Bernier said that government subsidies “won’t be the real solution,” arguing that the key to helping Bombardier lies in lowering business tax rates.
Garneau was asked on Wednesday about the status of Ottawa’s possible financial support of the beleaguered aerospace company. He replied that Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Navdeep Bains is still considering it.
“The government of Canada is doing its due diligence with the business case that has been put forward by Bombardier. It is, after all, a great deal of money that we are entrusted with from the taxpayer, and we will make a decision in due course.”
Ben Smith, president of Air Canada’s passenger airline services, said the airline’s decision to purchase Bombardier jets was the right one.
“We believe the plane is absolutely fantastic, even more so for an airline of our size with the geography of Canada,” he said. “Obviously we had to get the right deal that made sense for Air Canada, which we did.”
Bombardier says it now has orders and commitments for a total of 678 C Series planes.
With files from Jamie Sturgeon.
