The Harper government's announcement of $350-million in loans for Montreal-based Bombardier is an especially sweet commitment for the Conservatives: It may help boost their sagging fortunes in Quebec and doesn't cost them a penny of extra spending.
The loan money to help Bombardier build its new C Series jets was set aside in the 2005 federal budget and announced by the former Liberal government that spring.
The cash ended up sitting on federal books for three years because Bombardier's plans were delayed as the company struggled to line up sufficient suppliers and customers.
Conservative sources say the Tories "reconfirmed" the loan on Sunday because they expected Bombardier to formally come calling for the funds.
The Montreal jet maker has now managed to secure enough customers to start work on the C-series aircraft.
Conservatives - who in opposition were divided on whether to subsidize business - say privately the party's hands were tied on this Bombardier announcement.
They say they had no choice but to follow through on a promise the government of Canada made three years ago. The alternative would have been a backlash in Quebec, a major battleground for votes in the next federal election.
"We would have been accused of the same thing they say about Kyoto and other things, that 'you're breaking a commitment by the Canadian government,' " one Tory said.
Conservative support in Quebec has dipped in recent months since the controversy about former foreign affairs minister Maxime Bernier and his handling of confidential documents.
A Strategic Counsel poll in June said only 16 per cent of Quebec respondents would vote for the Tories, down from 25 per cent in the 2006 election. This June sample has an error margin of 6.3 per cent, but Quebec's Tory support has dropped in the past two polls from 27 per cent in April.
Strategic Counsel pollster Tim Woolstencroft says the Tories would be hard-pressed to skip out of the previous government's Bombardier pledge. "They would face bigger problems if they didn't support ... a strategically important company like Bombardier with lots of high-paying jobs."
Since taking office in 2006, the Tories have demonstrated a newfound comfort with writing cheques for business. In 2006, the Harper government refashioned the much-criticized Technology Partnerships Canada fund into a new corporate subsidy pot aimed at the Quebec-centred aerospace and defence industry with $900-million of funding over five years.
Some trade watchers have suggested Ottawa's Bombardier support could prompt trade battles with other countries that build aircraft.
The U.S. and Brazil said they will study the aid. "We will take a very careful look at the support announced by Canada, Quebec and Northern Ireland to ensure they do not distort the market for commercial airliners or contravene WTO rules," Gretchen Hamel with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.
Steven Chase