Bombardier's Boss Says, "I Am not a Corporate Welfare Bum."
That is fine for Paul Tellier to say, but the evidence is entirely different. In a letter to the financial editor of The Financial Post, (Sept. 21, 03, FP 15), Pat Martin, MP, Winnipeg Center, outlines what Bombardier has received from the taxpayer.
Martin writes, "Paul Tellier claims that he paid back back a $45 million loan with interest."
Mr. Tellier has no comment on the $87 million in Technology Partnership loans Bombardier received between 1996 and 2000 ($411,000 of which was dutifully returned to the Liberal party in political donations) which has not been paid back.
In fact, the federal government has shovelled more than $1.6 billion in these so-called loans to struggling little firms such as $33 million to IBM, $301 million to Pratt and Whitney and $9 million to SNC Lavelin. Only 2%, or $22 million has ever been paid back. Sort of gives new meaning to the word “loan."
Well, Pat, it does. I checked the dictionary and you're right. It isn't a loan, it’s a gift. Part of Tellier's spin is that "what is good for Daddy Warbucks is good for Canadians. Gee, Paul, I don't remember getting my dividend cheque in the mail. Your other claim was how successful your company, Bombardier, is. Then why are you getting subsidized? I understand the Chretien angle; however, I had hoped you would elucidate the other reasons.
