Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says the Canadian government will gradually sell off its General Motors holdings, while trying to get the best return it can in the process.
After teaming up with the Ontario and U.S. governments to give General Motors a multibillion-dollar loan at the height of the recession, Ottawa has been left with millions of common shares in the recovering auto company.
Ottawa also holds equity in Chrysler, which was offered a similar joint loan from the Canadian and U.S. governments.
Flaherty told reporters Wednesday that the Canadian government currently holds a mix of preferred shares and common shares in General Motors, which it will dispose of gradually.
"We'll watch…we want to do as well as we can over time," Flaherty told reporters Wednesday when he visited a manufacturing plant in Oshawa, Ont.
But he said the long-term goal for Ottawa is to get out of the auto business in a way that will not hurt the industry.
"We do not want to disrupt the market by acting abruptly, so we won't do that. But over time, we intend to get out of General Motors and Chrysler as well," Flaherty said.
Flaherty was promoting the government's strategy of lowering business taxes when he spoke to reporters on Wednesday.
Later in the day, the finance minister will travel to Davos, Switzerland, to take part in meetings at the World Economic Forum.
