Palaces for two Bombardier bosses

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José Boisjoli

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The luxurious 4,132 square foot apartment has three bedrooms and three bathrooms.

“Elegant and rare furnishings, architecture with large loggias,” describes a broker about the building. We talk about an “exquisite urban lifestyle”.

Big pay rise

Eric Martel was appointed head of Bombardier in April. He is expected to be paid $ 6.7 million this year, reported The newspaper in May.

This is eight times more than what he earned when he was at the head of Hydro-Québec (from 2015 to 2020), a crown corporation with revenues of $ 14 billion in 2019.

But it is still half less than what his predecessor at Bombardier, Alain Bellemare earned. Recall that the latter found himself at the heart of a controversy in 2018 for having sold stock options shortly before the Bombardier share collapsed. His severance pay had also made it tick.

José Boisjoli, for his part, received compensation of $ 8.8 million last year from BRP.

At the end of 2019, he held shares in the company to the tune of a colossal $ 38.2 million, according to a stock document.

BRP, a former division of Bombardier, was privatized in 2003 as part of an operation financed in part by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. The Beaudoin-Bombardier family remained a shareholder, and BRP returned to the stock market in 2013.

Massive losses

Even if the two directors are well paid for their services, we cannot say that the shareholder who bet on the Bombardier-Beaudoin empire has always been rewarded.

Bombardier’s stock has plummeted 79% since the start of 2020 and 3.6% since Mr. Martel took office. The Quebec government had to record in 2020 a loss of $ 600 million on its investment of $ 1.3 billion in the defunct C Series program (control of which was ceded by Bombardier to Airbus in June 2018 for $ 0) .

In 2017, the Montreal Economic Institute estimated the public funds received by the company since 1966 at more than $ 4 billion.

In 2013, the Fraser Institute ranked Bombardier as the second most subsidized firm in Canada.

Quebec will also lose most of its $ 350 million investment in McInnis Cement, revealed this week The newspaper.

Contacted yesterday, spokespersons for Bombardier and BRP did not want to comment.

ERIC MARTEL’S COUNTRY HOUSE

• Luxurious five-bedroom, six-bathroom home
• Located on a prestigious 12-acre estate overlooking Lake Memphremagog
• Area around the lake where some of the finest residences are located, says the broker.