Statement made on 21 April 2009 by Senator Yoine Goldstein (retired)
Hon. Yoine Goldstein:
Honourable senators, the automobile industry has been losing money for many years. One would expect that under ordinary circumstances that should tell them that they are doing something wrong. Apparently, they think they are not doing anything wrong and our government thinks the same way. We now discover that this government intends to throw another number of billions of dollars into the industry in the vain hope that it will somehow get fixed by a mere infusion of cash.
If jobs were to be saved by this infusion I would not be on my feet, but the money that is being thrown at the automotive industry by this government is taxpayers' money that goes directly and immediately to the benefit of American taxpayers. The Canadian government has received absolutely no security or guarantee for the money it has thrown at the industry because all of the Canadian companies' assets are mortgaged in favour of the American parent. Canada has very useful restructuring legislation on the books, although this government has still not proclaimed the bulk of that legislation. It is called the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.
Rather than simply throwing more money at the automotive industry, will the government tell the automobile industry to seek court protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act and, under that umbrella, do a proper restructuring with creditors, labour, suppliers and, most important, within their governance and their executive officers to make the Canadian automobile industry viable?
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