Industry Minister Tony Clement says he wants Canada's auto bailout to be a one-time deal, and if General Motors and Chrysler request additional money "the answer would be no."
Speaking Sunday on CTV's Question Period, Clement said the federal government has asked for detailed restructuring plans that show automakers are committed to turning around their financial fortunes and ensuring their viability.
But, should the government send the billions in bailout money the automakers have requested, they should not expect more funds in the future.
"They may come back for more but the answer would be no," Clement said.
He went on to say that the automakers must submit long-term plans -- not a short-term outlook.
"If their viable plan is, 'Here's the plan for the next six months,' that's not a viable plan in my opinion," Clement said. "So my recommendation would be, let's do this once, let's do it right, and let's make sure that this industry can be on the best footing so it doesn't cost taxpayers down the line."
On Friday, General Motors Canada, which is asking for about $7.5 billion from the federal and provincial governments, said it would maintain proportional Canadian production levels compared to the U.S.
While the company also pledged it would not close any Canadian plants, it did say that it plans to cut its workforce in this country to 7,000 employees by 2010. In 2005, the company employed 20,000 Canadians.
Chrysler, which has already requested about $1 billion in funding, also submitted restructuring plans, but the document was the same one sent to U.S. officials earlier in the week. The company said that its operations are so integrated across North America that it could not submit a Canada-specific plan.
However, Clement said Sunday that the company did provide Canadian officials with more details on its plans for the Brampton and Windsor assembly plants that will be evaluated in the coming days.
When asked if he is required to say yes to requests for bailout money given that letting automakers go bankrupt would lead to thousands of job losses and would devastate the Ontario economy, Clement said no.
"I'm not in the business of folding like a three-dollar suitcase on this kind of stuff," Clement said. "We are dealing with taxpayer dollars here. These are conditional loans, fully repayable and they're subject to conditions."
Clement said that automakers are required to prove to the government that they not only have long-term viability plans, but that they are also committed to lowering the lost of manufacturing a car in North America so they can be more competitive with foreign automakers.
He also warned that the government would not bail out the pension plans for automakers should they go bankrupt.
"This is not money for nothing," Clement said. "It is repayable loans with a lot of conditions attached so that taxpayers are confident that we're not just flushing money down the toilet."
