Editor:
General Motors is requesting a loan of $10 billion. That is a one-time loan for about one per cent of Canada's yearly economic output; or four per cent of the federal budget. That's a lot of cash.
The Canadian auto industry accounts for roughly 500,000 Canadian workers, significantly more than one per cent of the Canadian economy (or four per cent of one year's federal revenues).
Letting the auto industry fail means a jump in Canadian unemployment to 10 or more percent. And, federal revenues drop by more than four per cent while unemployment and welfare payments jump significantly.
Asking for a $10 billion loan is a big deal; the end of domestic automotive production in Canada is a bigger, and more costly, deal.
Eugene Parks - Victoria BC
