Industry Minister Tony Clement says he's investigating the possibility of a joint Canada-U.S. bailout of North America's ailing auto industry.

The Ontario MP, newly named to an economic portfolio in the post-election cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, will be going on what he calls a fact-finding mission next week to Detroit and Washington.

He'll be talking to executives from the Big Three automakers — Ford, General Motors and Chrysler — and to American lawmakers "to see how viable that theory is" of a joint bailout.

"People talk about … the need to have an integrated solution. And from a theoretical point of view, that makes sense," Clement said on Friday.

"But how viable is it? What exactly does that mean?"

Automakers have said they need more than $1 billion in loan guarantees to help tide over the sector until demand recovers for North American-produced vehicles in the U.S.

On Friday, GM reported a $2.5-billion loss in the third quarter and warned that its cash levels could fall below what's needed to run its business by the end of the year if the U.S. economy doesn't turn around and it doesn't get government aid.

The struggles of the auto manufacturing industry represent a shared problem for Washington and Ottawa. Currently, many auto parts cross the Canada-U.S. border as many as seven times before a vehicle is fully assembled.

Clement refused to answer a question about the prospect of one or more of the Big Three declaring bankruptcy, and what impact that would have on Ontario.

Not the end of the world

"I think the last thing that Canadians need from the government ministers is to run around with our hair on fire," he said. "So I'm not here saying that the world is about to end."

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says the Conservative government has already committed up to $450 million to revamping the auto industry, largely centred in Ontario and Quebec. But how that money will be used is still up for debate.

Conservative ministers have said the money can't simply be a bailout, but must help transform the industry to a more viable footing that produces vehicles more consumers want to buy.

Meanwhile, Flaherty's cautious stance has earned harsh criticism from the country's auto worker unions.

Chris Buckley, the president of CAW Local 222 in Oshawa, Ont., said on Wednesday it's "absolutely disgusting" that Flaherty's only monitoring the situation instead of providing financial help for automakers.

"This is not just about autoworkers, this is about good-paying Canadian jobs and, as they evaporate, what it does to our community."