It appears the provincial and federal governments are playing the blame game in the aftermath of layoffs at Bombardier in Thunder Bay.
Labour Minister Patty Hajdu says the Premier has left money on the table, accusing him of failing to provide the feds with a detailed plan for its proposed transportation projects in a timely fashion.
Hajdu adds a few months ago Doug Ford promised the union president there would be another contract coming, but it hasn’t materialized.
Ford places the responsibility at the feet of the Trudeau Liberals.
“We put forward one of the largest transit plans in North America, $28.5-billion, and we need the federal government to sign it. They’ve been sitting on their hands. We haven’t heard hide nor hair.”
Ford says Ontario has put their money where their mouth is.
Thunder Bay’s Mayor says the layoffs will have a major impact on the city’s economy.
Bill Mauro is calling on the province and the federal government to work with cities who need public transit.
“So financially they usually have help. We need the province and the federal government to say ‘when you go to buy we’re going to help you financially with that procurement.’ We need the government to commit to and maintain a Canadian content policy.”
Mauro stresses without a stronger Canadian content policy in place, they may not get the contract from cities looking for public transit.
