By Ken Pole | February 16, 2016 Estimated reading time 2 minutes, 20 seconds.
Federal minister Navdeep Bains told reporters the government remains “engaged” with Bombardier over its request for $1 billion in federal support, but that the “business case,” including the company’s financial situation, was still under review. Patrick Cardinal Photo
Bombardier Inc., due to release its fourth-quarter and 2015 financial results on Feb. 17, 2016, still has received no word of federal support for the company’s struggling C Series program. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains told reporters Feb. 16 that the government remains “engaged” with Bombardier over its request for $1 billion in federal support, but that the “business case,” including the company’s financial situation, was still under review.
“We want to make sure we continue to do our due diligence and we’ll make an informed decision,” Bains told reporters on Parliament Hill after a cabinet meeting. “They’ve made it very clear they’re looking for the federal government to play a role in that process, and so we’re making sure that we work with them.”
Bombardier had indicated that it preferred a federal response before releasing its year-end financials. When pressed for details, Bains said the only “deadline” the government was facing was “making sure that we respect taxpayers, that we look at the business case properly, that we make sure we have all the relevant information so we make a timely decision.”
He refused to speculate, but did note that it was “really important to understand the aerospace sector is very important to the Canadian economy” in that it employs 180,000 people and adds approximately $29 billion to the country’s gross domestic product. “We understand the importance of the sector and that’s why we’re engaged not only with the company, but obviously we’re very sensitive to the sector as well,” said Bains.
