THUNDER BAY - The NDP are calling out the provincial government for ‘quietly’ lowering the Canadian content minimum from 25 per cent to 10 per cent for transit vehicles, according to leaked documents.
Since 2008, the provincial government had a policy that all transit vehicles produced with provincial funding must have at least 25 per cent Canadian content.
The purpose of the policy was to “promote job retention and creation, foster economic development, protect skilled manufacturing jobs and continue to promote a fair, open and transparent procurement process that ensures value for taxpayers’ dollars.”
The NDP says it has obtained a leaked schedule of the request for proposals for the Ontario Line’s cars.
“The public documents for the Ontario Line RFP do not include this information; it is only available to those with access to the full procurement documents,” the NDP said.
A clause in the document on Canadian content states: “’Canadian content’ means a minimum of 10 per cent of the final value of a car supplied by Project Co under the Project Agreement, which must be contracted for by Project Co in Canada, as calculated in accordance with Schedule 38.”
Thunder Bay Mayor Bill Mauro, who previously served as a Liberal MPP, worked on bringing the 25 per cent minimum to the province.
“I tried to get it even higher than the 25 per cent but that is where we were able to get it to settle,” he said.
Mauro said he has not heard confirmation that the minimum Canadian content has been lowered to 10 per cent but if it has, he said it is concerning for the future of the Alstom Plant in Thunder Bay.
“Very concerning for what it might mean for future work here in the city of Thunder Bay,” he said. “It will make it more difficult. Alstom doesn’t just have plants in Thunder Bay. The Canadian content policy applies across Canada. Alstom also has plants in Quebec and who knows what a lowered Canadian content policy might mean in terms of whether it remains in Canada or goes off shore.”
Earlier this week, Alstom announced more than 300 temporary layoffs at the local plant starting next month due to a contract for bi-level cars for a U.S. customer is winding down while work on new contracts isn't ready to start yet.
Contracts that have been secured will see production ramp up at the plant in the spring of 2023 but Mauro said there still needs to be more contracts to secure the long-term viability of the plant.
“The work that has been secured that will be ramped up by March 2023 is great, that’s significant,” he said. “But in the longer term, clearly it can have a significant impact on the long-term viability of the plant if this is the case.”
NDP leader Andrea Horwath will be holding a news conference Thursday afternoon.
