An aid package for General Motors will likely involve bigger-than-expected sacrifices from taxpayers, unions and the company if the recent concessions required to bail out Chrysler are any indication, Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday.
The federal and provincial governments had to provide more funds than anticipated in a $3.8-billion deal in April to help Chrysler survive — an amount that was almost as high as the $4 billion initially promised to cover both automakers.
GM has until Friday to work out a deal with the Canadian Auto Workers.
Ontario Opposition Leader Bob Runciman said McGuinty’s comments should concern taxpayers, since there seems to be no bottom to how much the government is willing to pay. “There’s no question that what he’s talking about is probably more job losses and certainly more taxpayer money going into what, at the moment, appears to be a bottomless pit,” Runciman said.
