Canada auto bailout hinging on U.S. action

OTTAWA, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Canadian Industry Minister Tony Clement says there will be no financial aid for struggling automakers until the U.S. government announces its package.

Speaking to the CTV network Sunday, Clement said money from the governments of Canada and the province of Ontario would total about 20 percent of whatever the U.S. government grants to Chrysler, Ford and General Motors.

Despite the obstacles the U.S. $14 billion plan encountered in the Senate last week, Clement told the broadcaster he is convinced U.S. President George Bush wants prompt action.

"The Bush administration has made it pretty clear that they think that a rescue is necessary to save the entire industry, to keep the economy from going further into troubled waters in the United States," he said. "Unless there is a fix in the United States, it's very difficult for us to do something independently of that."

General Motors announced Friday nearly all North American plants will be idled for most of January. GM and Chrysler officials in Detroit also warned U.S. officials their dwindling cash reserves have them on the brink of bankruptcy.