Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper has said he is not concerned about the possibility of General Motors moving out of Canada as the Detroit-based company restructures its operations.
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“We’ve had good discussions with the company,” Harper told Reuters in Toronto before GM, and Chrysler, submitted their latest restructuring plans to the US government.
“Obviously, there is a range of options. and the restructuring itself will be quite complex. But I’m confident that with Canada, with the partnership with Ontario, coming to the table with our share of funding that we’ll maintain a strong industry in this country.”
GM and Chrysler are due to present their restructuring plans to the governments of Canada and the province of Ontario on Friday.
Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty said his government would do its share to aid the auto industry.
Harper added that he does not rule out further job losses in the auto sector, but said Canada would maintain its share of North American auto production, which is around 20%.
He said that Canada’s economy was in better shape than most other countries’, adding that the financial sector was strong and that the housing sector did not have the structural problems that the US housing sector had.
