Brad Wall questions Bombardier bailout, urges Ottawa to help oil sector

Saskatchewan PremierBradWall iswading intothe debate over whether the federal government should bail outBombardier, saying Ottawa should also make the energy sector a priority.

Wall took to social media on Thursdayto arguethat if the federal government is thinking about apackage for the Montreal-based company, it could consider similar help for the Energy East pipeline project.

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"If the federal government is considering a $1-billion bailoutto address 2,830 Canadian job losses at Bombardier, what about the tens of thousands of job losses in Canada's energy sector?" Wall wrote on his Facebookpage.

The premier also suggestedin his post that the government could help with anoil-wellcleanup project he has proposed.

Wall's comments come afterBombardier announced Wednesday that it plans to lay off 7,000 employees around the world, including 2,830 in Canada most of them in Quebec.

Another east-west battle?

This isn't the first time this year that Wall's comments havecaused a stir in Quebec.

Last month, Wall slammed Mayor Denis Coderreand the Montreal Metropolitan Community for theiroppositiontothe Energy East pipeline, callingit "a sad day for our country."

"I trust Montrealarea mayors will politely return their share of $10B in equalization supported by west," Wall wrote on Twitter at the time.

Coderrelaterfired back at Wall, saying that the Montreal Metropolitan Community represents four million people while the entire province of Saskatchewan has a population of1.13 million.

Ottawa to decide on Bombardier in 'due course'

Transport Minister Marc Garneau has said the government will decide "in due course'' whether to give financial aid to Bombardier.

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The federal government considers Bombardieran "anchor firm'' to Canada's aerospace industry because it supports a supply hub that employs tens of thousands more workers, according to internal documents prepared for the economic development minister.

Ottawa has lent money to Bombardier in the past. Last fall, Industry Canada said Bombardier had received $1.3 billion in repayable contributions since 1966 and had repaid $543 million as of Dec. 31, 2014.

Bombardier's sweet and sour news release

9 years ago

Duration 3:59

7,000 jobs to be cut over 2 years, but Air Canada to buy up to 75 of Bombardier's CS300 aircraftBombardier CEO Alain Bellemare continued to press Ottawa on Wednesday to come through once again.

Bellemare said that Bombardier may have borrowed about $1 billion since the mid-1980s, but it generated more than $15 billion in government tax revenue over that period.

The Canadian Association ofOilwellDrilling Contractors says 100,000 people are out of work in the energy industry, which is struggling due to falling oil prices.