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Former minister urges Ottawa to think hard on Bombardier decision
Justin Trudeau’s new government should do everything it can to prevent storied Canadian companies such as Bombardier Inc. from failing, according to Brian Tobin, a Bank of Montreal investment banker and former industry minister.
February 5, 2016 By Bloomberg News
At the same time, Mr. Trudeau needs to address Canada’s inability to get pipelines built and reverse a lukewarm attitude to foreign investment that has left the country with “a black eye with many investors around the world,” Mr. Tobin said on Thursday in an interview at Bloomberg’s Toronto offices.
“Bombardier is incredibly important to Canada,” Mr. Tobin said, referring to the Montreal-based plane and train maker than employees 24,000 people in the country. “I think we should think very long and very hard before we simply let those jobs slip away.”
The former federal minister and premier of Newfoundland is a familiar face in Canadian business. He ran or served as a director on a cross-section of companies, including construction firm Aecon Group Inc. and New Flyer Industries Inc., a bus maker. Mr. Tobin was Canada’s minister of industry in 2001, when the Liberal government stepped up to offer low-interest loans to Bombardier to help it compete with Brazilian rival Embraer SA. | READ MORE
