It’s often said that governments shouldn’t pick winners but Ottawa has decided that aircraft maker Bombardier (BBDb.TO) is too important to the economy to be left to its fate. Check out BNN’s coverage today of the federal government’s decision to advance $372.5-million to the aircraft and train maker.

Not everyone’s impressed by the decision. “It’s now the same old approach of giving big taxpayer subsidies to powerful corporate interests,” Canadian Taxpayers Federation Federal Director Aaron Wudrick says. The federation reckons that “Bombardier has received more than $3.8 billion in subsidies going back more than 50 years.”

Wudrick, who joins us at 2:10 p.m. ET, says the only good news is that the company is getting less than it sought. Bombardier had been asking Ottawa for US$1 billion in assistance since late 2015.

McGill University business strategy Professor Karl Moore told us this morning that the political optics are improved by the fact that the money is less than Bombardier asked for and it’s also a repayable loan. He argues that Bombardier is one of Canada’s true global corporate players and government support is prevalent in plane manufacturing. “Welcome to the big leagues.”

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FAMILY TIES

For critics, another sore point is the company’s special share arrangement that entrenches control by the Bombardier-Beaudoin family.

At 9:10 a.m. ET, we hear from Anita Anand, a corporate governance specialist at the University of Toronto. She tells segment producer Adena Ali that Ottawa’s move is “horrible news for taxpayers. The federal government should have insisted on the dismantling of the dual class share structure. All subordinate shareholders and federal taxpayers should be upset by this.”

We’re also tracking reaction in the rest of Canada. Alberta Conservative leadership candidate Jason Kenney complained on Twitter that "PM Trudeau wants to ‘phase out the oilsands’ because C02, but gives $400M to subsidize C02-emitting aeroplanes.”

 

CALDWELL'S TAKE

Other highlights on our channel include the always trenchant Tom Caldwell of Caldwell Securities, who joins us a feature guest on Business Day PM at 3 p.m. ET.

We’ll get his take on the backing for Bombardier. Caldwell told us last month that Canadians have been sleepwalking as this country’s manufacturing base erodes. “I don’t understand where our brains are at,” he told us. 

CRUDE SAGS

Finally, oil has sagged below US$52 today as investors fret about rising U.S. inventories and questionable Chinese demand. Don’t miss Commodities at 11 a.m. ET when we assess the latest U.S. crude stockpiles report with Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics.

Energy shares  jumped in late November when OPEC announced its deal to cut output but Commodities Producer Mike Attenborough notes that Canadian energy stocks, plagued by fears of U.S. protectionism, have now dropped below the level they traded at just before the OPEC move.

Every morning Commodities host Andrew Bell writes a ‘chase note’ to BNN's editorial staff listing the stories and events that will be in the spotlight that day. Have it delivered to your inbox before the trading day begins by heading to www.bnn.ca/subscribe.