KENORA – POLITICS – Kenora MP Greg Rickford is coming out firing at the New Democrats over what the Minister says is wrong information.
“It’s no surprise that once again the NDP simply don’t have their facts straight. Not only did they vote against the Ontario Line and the largest subway expansion in Canadian history, but they voted against the service expansion across the GO rail network. By doing so, they voted against keeping good-paying jobs in Thunder Bay,” stated Greg Rickford, MPP for Kenora-Rainy River. “Andrea Horwath should explain to Ontarians why she thinks doing the bare minimum to support workers is good enough for the Ontario NDP.”
Andrea Horwath and the Ontario NDP are wrong once again. If it were up to them, we would be doing the bare minimum when it comes to supporting local jobs in Ontario.
Sources tell NetNewsLedger that some of the components for the pending order for Alstom are not made in Canada.
“Andrea Horwath wants just 25 per cent of Ontario’s multi-billion-dollar transit project to require Canadian content. Instead, our government is moving forward with 75 per cent Canadian content. 75 per cent Canadian content means more high-paying jobs right here in Ontario. It means keeping the doors open at the Alstom plant, and it means more money in the pockets of hardworking Ontarians,” states Rickford.
“The fact is, under the leadership of Premier Ford, no government has ordered more Canadian-made vehicles than this one”.
Rickford says, “In the last year alone, our government’s investments have supported the people of Thunder Bay and the workers at the Alstom plant with hundreds of millions of dollars in purchase orders, including:
- $180 million investment for new TTC streetcars, and;
- $171 million investment to refurbish GO rail trains.
“Andrea Horwath and the Ontario NDP didn’t support any of these investments, and they didn’t support our government’s plan to build transit, making it clear they don’t support the workers at the Alstom plant or the people of Thunder Bay”, concluded the Minister.