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Following more than six hours of debate at a special meeting on Friday, council voted 36-6 in favour of a plan that would see the city cover two-thirds of the $1.2 billion cost of the TTC streetcar contract. The city will put up an estimated $834 million in total debt to finance the replacement of their 30-year-old streetcars, which includes the federal government‘s proposed share. The city had already committed $355 million for the streetcars, to be built by Bombardier Inc. in Thunder Bay. The province will pick up $416 million of the $1.2 billion cost and the city had hoped the federal government would kick in the remaining $417 million. But Infrastructure Minister John Baird repeatedly said Toronto‘s request for money did not qualify under terms of the federal stimulus program. Toronto city council‘s decision effectively saves the largest transit contract in Canadian history, on the last business day before it was set to expire on Saturday. Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Bruce Hyer applauded the City of Toronto for “shouldering more than their fair share to get things done. “Something that is increasingly necessary when there is a vacuum of federal leadership,” Hyer said. “This is a great day for Thunder Bay and for Toronto,” Hyer said. But, he said, “not for Ottawa. Baird and the Conservative government couldn‘t see past their ideology to create the thousands of jobs that hinge on this contract.” An outside consultant‘s report released in mid-June estimated that the deal to build 204 Bombardier streetcars in Thunder Bay would generate 20,000 direct and indirect jobs in Canada, including 4,500 direct and 6,200 indirect jobs in Thunder Bay, pumping $655 million in wages into the local economy. Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty called Baird‘s refusal to consider infrastructure funding for the project because it failed to meet a two-year threshold “just an excuse.” Baird could not be reached for comment Friday. Rafferty suggested that “money could have been committed from other infrastructure programs and from future years. We know that where there is the political will, there is a way – and when there isn‘t, no amount of sense will change the minister‘s mind,” Rafferty added. Thunder Bay-Rainy River Liberal candidate Ken Boshcoff said “there is no excuse whatsoever for the federal government not coming to the table. They had already approved the funds in December of 2006.” Paul Pugh, president of CAW Local 1075 representing Bombardier plant workers in Thunder Bay, said that union members are “very happy that Toronto Mayor David Miller has shown the vision and courage to move ahead with this project that‘s so important for Toronto and Thunder Bay.” “We still have hope that the federal government will find a way to work with the province of Ontario and City of Toronto on it,” he said. Retooling and engineering work at the Thunder Bay Bombardier plant is expected to start almost immediately, with the first prototype rail car delivered in March of 2011. The sole Conservative in Northern Ontario, Kenora MP Greg Rickford, has said he felt the project didn‘t qualify for infrastructure stimulus funding, and that a contract with only 25-per-cent Canadian content also didn‘t sit well with him. Top of Page |
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September 2, 2010, 8:22 am |