Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says negotiations with Bombardier Inc. are going well but he wouldn't say Friday if the federal government is close to reaching a deal with the transportation giant.
"I don't want to negotiate in a public place but I can tell you the conversations are very positive," he said as he attended an unrelated funding announcement with Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard in Montreal.
Trudeau said the federal government is still trying to determine how to aid the company, which wants US$1 billion from Ottawa.
"We will pursue the conversations with Bombardier to determine the best way for the federal government to help Bombardier, help the industry, and most of all assure the jobs and the success of this sector for years and decades," he said.
On Thursday, Bombardier (TSX:BBD.B) said it is still looking for federal financial assistance despite forecasting strong earnings growth in 2017.
Chief executive Alain Bellemare told investors the request made a year ago would add financial flexibility to manage unexpected risks or to develop its next aircraft program.
Couillard said he isn't privy to the negotiations but is confident the federal government would intervene "in a strategic way and at a strategic moment" just as Quebec did when it announced its own US$1 billion investment in the company last year.
"I'm confident the conversations (between Ottawa and Bombardier) will continue...and from what I hear it's an agreement Bombardier will be happy with," he said.
Earlier in the day, Trudeau and Couillard donned hard hats for a frigid winter visit to the construction site of the Universite de Montreal's future science complex.
They then met to sign what they described as a "historic" investment in post-secondary education infrastructure which will see nearly $1.1 billion in funding for Quebec universities and colleges.
Of that amount, $385 million comes from Ottawa through its post-secondary strategic investment fund, $345 million from the Quebec government and the rest from the schools and private donors.
