Ottawa may take slice of Air Canada to keep it flying The Vancouver Sun Tuesday, March 25, 2003 OTTAWA - Transport Minister David Collenette did not rule out Monday the possibility of the federal government buying back shares in Air Canada to keep the struggling airline aloft. "The situation facing the aviation industry worldwide is extremely serious. Air Canada is not exempt from that," Collenette said in the Commons. "We are continuing to work with the industry. We are monitoring the situation and, in particular with respect to Air Canada, we are prepared to discuss with them any options that might make the situation better." Collenette was responding to a question from Tory MP Rex Barnes, who wanted to know if the government is considering "any scenario [in which] they would buy shares in Air Canada." Air Canada, like airlines around the world, never recovered completely from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S. and is reeling from the war in Iraq. Canada's flagship carrier last week announced plans to lay off 3,600 employees to save $200 million but it still needs to reduce labour costs by an additional $650 million. Some analysts believe Air Canada will be forced to seek bankruptcy protection. Collenette last week said the federal government is "committed to the survival" of Air Canada and would not rule out federal aid, although he said the airline has not yet asked for any help. Air Canada was a Crown corporation until the federal government privatized it in 1988. Outside the Commons, Collenette refused to speculate on the possibility of the government buying back a share but again did not rule out the idea. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.thehummingbirdonline.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************