WASHINGTON (AP) -- The long-term fate of the auto industry rests with Barack Obama now that President George W. Bush has given car companies $17.4 billion in emergency rescue loans.

Simply letting the Big Three collapse was not an option amid a recession, housing slump and financial credit crunch, Bush said in announcing the short-term loans and demanding tough concessions from the automakers and their employees.

"By giving the auto companies a chance to restructure, we will shield the American people from a harsh economic blow at a vulnerable time," the president said in his Saturday radio address. "And we will give American workers an opportunity to show the world once again that they can meet challenges with ingenuity and determination, and emerge stronger than before."

The Detroit companies pledged to rebuild their once-mighty industry, though they acknowledged it would be tough to fight their way back from the brink of bankruptcy. If the carmakers fail to prove viability -- a positive cash flow and ability to make good on the loans -- by March 31, they will be required to repay the government loans.

That's something they would find all but impossible to do.

Bush said the loans will give automakers three months to institute plans to restructure into viable

TORONTO (AP) -- The federal and Ontario governments will provide the Canadian subsidiaries of the Detroit Three automakers with $3.29 billion in emergency loans, the prime minister said Saturday.

The announcement follows a pledge Friday by President George W. Bush to offer $17.4 billion in emergency loans to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada's pledge, the equivalent of 20 percent of the U.S. aid package, will help keep the Canadian plants operating while they restructure their businesses to retain one of the country's most important sectors.

"We cannot afford, in the United States or Canada, the catastrophic short-term collapse of the Big Three automakers. The U.S. has signaled that they are not going to allow these companies to fail, and we will do our share of the North American package to see that this doesn't happen either," said Harper speaking at a news conference in Toronto.

Canada's automotive industry represents 14 percent of the country's manufacturing output, 23 percent