Ontario's Premier Dalton McGuinty, who will sit down with the province's auto industry executives on Friday, said he doesn't want to help out auto companies that don't have a solid business plan.
However, the province is willing to help automakers to change their product lines into something that consumers actually want, he told reporters in Port Alma on Thursday.
The meeting will involve all automakers in Ontario, not just the Big Three U.S.-based General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty ruffled feathers on Wednesday when he suggested some in his own Whitby-Oshawa riding were against a bailout of companies that might fail anyway.
Oshawa is the home of General Motors Canada.
McGuinty has called the auto industry the "mainstay of 12 Ontario communities" and accounts for about 400,000 jobs, both directly and indirectly.
Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement -- himself an Ontario MP, representing Parry Sound-Muskoka -- suggested Wednesday that the Conservative government does have a plan for the auto sector.
On Wednesday, Economic Development Minister Michael Bryant told BNN that "survival goes to the swift."
He thought the province had to help transition the future of the auto industry to alternative-fuel cars and other advanced autos.
The best way to demand that sort of change is to lead on any assistance efforts, Bryant said, adding, "If we wait and see, we might not be in a position to do so."
Bryant said the auto industry hasn't yet put out a specific number for assistance and he didn't have one in his own mind yet -- "and we have to consider what's in the public interest at the end of the day."
He did say the Ontario government does not support a no-strings-attached bailout of the troubled industry, which has been wracked by falling sales for the Big Three's products in the U.S.
The situation is seen as so dire that some of the major U.S. automakers might not survive.
Bryant said the sensible approach is to offer assistance based on a "guaranteed footprint" in Canada.
"If we do this right, it's going to be difficult and painful for them to accept it," he said.
But if the U.S. Congress beats Ontario to the punch, there is the risk of a "complete repatriation" of Ontario auto sector jobs to the United States, Bryant said.
The U.S. Big Three want US$50 billion from Congress.
On Wednesday, McGuinty also raised the spectre that a new administration on Democratic President-elect Barack Obama could see some auto production removed from Canada. But he said Thursday that while he can't promise magic, he's confident the province, Ottawa and Washington can come to some type of agreement.
McGuinty also said a recent meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper has him reassured that Ottawa understands how joint measures in jurisdictions such as Europe and Australia are helping struggling industries.
Bryant said Ontario needs Ottawa's help to make this work.
With files from The Canadian Press
