QUEBEC — The Quebec government says the pressure is mounting on Ottawa to provide financial assistance for Bombardier's CSeries planes.
The federal Liberals must do their part after Thursday's announcement that U.S. carrier Delta had placed an order with Bombardier for 75 CS100 aircraft with options for an additional 50 planes, Premier Philippe Couillard and the Opposition Parti Quebecois said Thursday.
The deal is valued at US$5.6 billion.
Federal Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains has acknowledged Ottawa is considering a request from Bombardier (TSX:BBD.B) for US$1 billion in funding after Quebec's announcement late last year it would invest a similar sum.
Couillard reiterated that Quebec's aerospace industry is as important as the automobile sector in Ontario and said aerospace is currently the most innovative sector in the Canadian economy.
Government involvement in the CSeries must be strategic, Couillard said.
"We don't want to become makers of airplanes but we want to support innovation," he told reporters in Quebec City. "Governments in a situation like this should not behave like investors or bankers, but economic agents."
He says it is "paradoxical" that Ottawa hasn't hesitated to help Ontario with billions in public funds while seemingly dragging its feet with respect to Quebec's key sector.
The governments of Quebec and Ontario, both provinces where Bombardier has an extensive presence, have urged Ottawa to provide financial assistance.
"Governments invested billions of dollars — and lost billions of dollars — with the support of the automobile sector in Ontario," Couillard said.
"So it would not be understandable that the federal government would not be very actively present in this innovative sector — the most important innovation project in Canada today is the CSeries plane and we should all be proud of that."
Couillard said he's not worried about Bombardier's financial situation, noting the CSeries order book is filled until 2020 with the first commercial flight scheduled for July in Europe.
PQ Leader Pierre Karl Peladeau called on Ottawa on Thursday to invest in the aerospace sector as a whole, including Bombardier, saying the CSeries needs a capital base to really "take off" and that the cash infusion must come from the federal government.
