During a media interview over the weekend, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic Leblanc confirmed that the Canadian government had not ruled out taking a stake in the country’s airlines as part of a support package for the aviation sector.
When the question was posed to Leblanc if Canada could consider taking an equity stake in return for aid like Germany has for Lufthansa, he said that the government "is very much discussing that."
"I know, my colleagues, [Transport Minister] Marc Garneau, and [Finance Minister] Chrystia Freeland, are looking at a whole series of options of what government support might look like for the sector. So we haven't made any decisions in that level of detail yet, but they're very much discussing that," Leblanc said.
Air Canada was partially owned by the government until 1989.