LATEST STORIES:
Ottawa invests $300M in jet plants

(Updated)
It was announced in the federal budget last year. But in case you’ve forgotten, the industry minister was in Mississauga Monday morning with $300-million in loans to a leading aerospace company, so it can continue putting planes in the sky, with less and less environmental impact.
Off camera, employees of Pratt and Whitney say they happily commute here from places like Barrie, Georgetown and Hamilton. They say good engineering jobs like this are hard to find, and they’re proud of the innovation here.
Moore: “The engines Pratt has certified in the last 25 years is a record in the aerospace industry. As a result, today, a Pratt and Whitney powered aircraft with engines built in Canada takes off or lands everywhere in the world, every second of the day.”
Industry Minister James Moore says that’s why Canada is giving Pratt Canada $300 million in repayable loans from an aerospace fund. The money will help secure 15 hundred jobs that already exist in the Mississauga and Quebec facilities.
Moore: “This is five years, 300 million going in, but the benefits — this will no doubt create jobs. 12 hundred suppliers. If everyone created a job, this creates thousands, conceivably.”
Pratt is putting up another 700 million. It is developing lighter, quieter, more fuel efficient engines that will be used in commercial aircraft and helicopters, including the new Bombardier “C” series.
John Saabas, Pratt and Whitney Canada: “We’ve got reason to be proud of our legacy as the best small gas turbine company in the world.”
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says this is corporate welfare for a highly profitable international corporation, and that Pratt and Whitney has received so much in federal loans over the years it is difficult to track whether it has, as the government says, paid it all back on time, or how many jobs have been lost or created.