NDP: TTC contract with Alstom is a big win for Thunder Bay workers and our local economy

THUNDER BAY – NDP Leader of the Official Opposition Marit Stiles and MPP Lise Vaugeois (Thunder Bay – Superior North) applaud the decision to award Alstom the sole-source contract with the TTC for subway trains:

“This is a big win for Thunder Bay workers and for all of Ontario,” Stiles said. “New Democrats have fought tirelessly to ensure that this contract, and the good union jobs it will support, will stay in Canada, giving workers the certainty they need in the middle of a trade war.

“We need more made-in-Ontario solutions like this to protect and create good jobs, stand up for workers, and strengthen our economy. That means putting Ontario workers first when we spend taxpayer dollars on investments and procurement.”

“Workers at Thunder Bay’s Alstom plant are the best of the best, and I am so glad that they are receiving this contract, something that we have been calling for,” said Vaugeois.

“Many manufacturers that employ Ontarians here at home provide world-class services and goods. Working with Ontario-based companies to build Ontario transit is exactly what the government needs to do to strengthen our province against Trump’s tariffs.”

BACKGROUND:

• The Ford government awarded a $9 billion contract to build the Ontario Line to a company abroad while manufacturing workers in Alstom were laid off.
• New Democrats have criticised the Ford government's awarding of transit vehicles on Toronto's Ontario Line outside the province given our domestic manufacturing expertise and the ongoing trade war.
• The Ford government ignored Ontario’s policy mandating at least 25 per cent Canadian content for transit vehicles, resulting in Ontario Line vehicles being made abroad.