Quebec open to helping Bombardier, minister says after CEO meeting
MONTREAL The provincial government would be open to investing more in Bombardier Inc., Quebec’s economy minister said following a meeting Friday with the company’s president and CEO, Alain Bellemare.
“There’s no requirement for us to invest,” Pierre Fitzgibbon said, but he said he made it clear to Bellemare “that would there be a requirement, would there be an opportunity, we would be open for business.” The aerospace industry is “of paramount importance to the province of Quebec,” he said.
The meeting came the day after Quebec’s securities regulator confirmed it was reviewing a Bombardier program that allows certain senior executives to sell shares in the company during periods when they would otherwise not be allowed to, by giving instructions in advance. The company has said it is co-operating with the investigation.
Fitzgibbon refused to comment on the Autorité des marchés financiers investigation. On Friday, Bombardier shares continued to slide Friday, hitting a two-year low, closing at $1.67, down 20.1 per cent in Toronto trading.
Fitzgibbon said he met with Bellemare to discuss the plan to help Bombardier workers who will be laid off find new jobs in the aerospace industry.
That plan came out of a Nov. 12 meeting with aerospace industry representatives. While Bombardier representatives were at the meeting, Bellemare was notably absent.
“I’m as, if not more confident,” Fitzgibbon said about that plan, adding that Bellemare told him he has personally had discussions with other industry players to ensure workers will be able to find new jobs in the aerospace industry.
On Nov. 8, Bombardier announced that it would lay off 5,000 workers companywide over the next 12 to 18 months. About 2,500 of those jobs will be in Quebec.
The same day, the head of a union that represents thousands of Montreal-area Bombardier workers issued an open letter calling for the government to intervene.
“Faced with the challenges currently facing Bombardier, more and more Quebecers are saying, ‘We can no longer stand to see these bandits with ties stealing from us and giving themselves big wages, close the shop and good riddance.’ The most unfortunate thing about this is that this frustration with Bombardier puts the jobs of 15,000 workers at risk,” David Chartrand, the Quebec coordinator of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, wrote.
He said the government needs to be involved to “promote and protect the interests of Quebec and its aerospace workers” but that it needs to get “commitments on the level of employment, the level of activities, the development of new programs and the redistribution of the benefits in Quebec society” from companies when it intervenes.