This is going to be good.
Our illustrious government has figured out a headline-free way to bail out Quebec firms, such as Bombardier, and do it in a ‘governmentally distant’ manner, shielded by a crown corporation business development corporation.
The name of this will be through the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF).
Reassuringly, money to be loaned will be conditioned upon:
Companies seeking support must demonstrate how they intend to preserve employment and maintain investment activities. Recipients will need to commit to respect collective bargaining agreements and protect workers’ pensions. The LEEFF program will require strict limits to dividends, share buy-backs, and executive pay. In considering a company’s eligibility to assistance under the LEEFF program, an assessment may be made of its employment, tax, and economic activity in Canada, as well as its international organizational structure and financing arrangements. The program will not be available to companies that have been convicted of tax evasion. In addition, recipient companies would be required to commit to publish annual climate-related disclosure reports consistent with the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, including how their future operations will support environmental sustainability and national climate goals.
Let the gravy train flow! Bombardier gets another low-interest rate loan of a billion dollars.
Unsecured and quickly forgotten, or extended ad infinitum, of course.