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“The problem with all this stuff is you don’t save or create jobs,” said Fraser Institute senior fellow Mark Milke. “By loaning money to one pulp mill or one automotive company, you help them at the expense of another pulp mill or another automotive company. This is all about ribbon cutting for politicians.”Quebec loaned GM Canada the money in early 1987 to help the automaker build a new paint shop at the Ste-Thérese facility and to retool the plant to make a new version of the Oldsmobile Ciera. The federal government provided a matching loan for the same purpose.

The total amount is due in 2017, meaning GM will have had 30 years to pay back the principle with no interest.

“In general, companies don’t repay the money they owe us before they need to,” said an Investment Quebec official. “GM is doing better now so we hope” they will honour their commitment.

GM Canada is current with all the terms and conditions of its existing loan agreements and will pay off the Quebec sum, company spokesperson Faye Roberts said.

Regardless, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of financial aid to the Detroit automakers that Ottawa and Ontario have scrubbed off their books following the companies’ U.S. bankruptcy protection filings two years ago, according to Mr. Milke.

In a research paper published this month, Mr. Milke says $6.6-billion in GM loans were written off in the federal public accounts in 2009-2010. He cites his email correspondence with the federal Department of Finance to confirm the numbers.