Clement thinks he can be half pregnant

This auto bailout is becoming absurd, courtesy of the clown who is orchestrating it, Tony Clement.

First we have Clement arguing that the bailout of GM will be by way of repayable loans on “commercial terms”.

Commercial terms? What an inherently deceitful concept that is, since there are no "commercial terms" on which third party non governmental lenders would provide financing to GM, which is why the bailout is necessary in the first place. Sheesh.

Second we have Clement voicing support for the GM proposal before he has any firm idea on how much money is required? File that under dead stupid and incompetent.

Then we learn that the bailout money isn’t for GM proper, but rather to allow GM to make good on its unfunded pension obligations, whereby the proposition has now become that GM will preserve a mere 7,000 jobs if Canadian taxpayers underwrite the open ended, long tailed liability associated with 52,000 retired GM employees? With odds like that, taxpayers can only be assured of losing.

And now we have Tony Clement bravely saying that the Government won’t lend any additional money to GM, if they come-a- callin' at some later date. This is anything but awe inspiring. We have the Government of Canada prepared to throw $7 billion at GM to support some ill defined strategy, knowing full well that it may be insufficient? Talk about backing a known loser. What’s the point of bailing out a sinking ship? Not a dime should go into bailing out GM, unless Canadian taxpayers can be assured that the plan has been stress tested as being fully funded, otherwise what’s the point? Until Clement can ensure Canadian taxpayers that this bailout money is full and sufficient in terms of creating a viable GM, then it merely becomes an grand political exercise in buying time, and wasting taxpayer money.

If Mercedes can come out with a Smart Car, why can’t Tony Clement and Michael Bryant come up with a Smart Bailout, assuming such a beast exists?



Clement says auto bailout will be the last
Updated Sun. Feb. 22 2009 12:57 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Industry Minister Tony Clement says "the answer would be no" if automakers want bailout funds in addition to what they have already asked for in their restructuring plans submitted last week.

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."