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Ministry of Transportation

Transit Vehicles Must Have Canadian Content


    McGuinty Government Keeps Transit Investments Working in Ontario

    TORONTO, March 20 /CNW/ -

    NEWS

    Transit vehicles bought with provincial funding must now have at least
25 per cent Canadian content.
    The fair and balanced made-in-Canada policy will promote economic
development and protect Ontario's skilled manufacturing jobs, many of which
depend on export sales.
    Like the City of Toronto, which recently commissioned professional advice
on content rules, the province decided on 25 per cent Canadian content as the
best way to support Ontario jobs and to safeguard an open bidding process that
ensures value for taxpayers' dollars.

    QUOTES

    "This approach will create jobs for Ontarians as we build a greener, more
comprehensive and convenient public transit system," said Transportation
Minister Jim Bradley.
    "Canadian manufacturers and exporters who supply infrastructure projects
need a globally-competitive business environment," says Jayson Myers,
President of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters. "That starts with policies
that provide them with a level playing field. Ontario has taken a step in the
right direction today."

    QUICK FACTS

    <<
    -   Ontario's new transit procurement policy will protect and create
        thousands of jobs in Ontario.
    -   The Ontario government had a five-year agreement to buy transit
        vehicles built at Bombardier Transportation's plant in Thunder Bay,
        Ontario. The contract expired in 1997.
    -   Quebec's centralized bus procurement agency, Urban Transit
        Association of Quebec (ATUQ), which is not a provincial agency,
        requires 20 per cent Canadian content.

    LEARN MORE

    Move Ontario 2020 is the $17.5 billion transit action plan for the Greater
Toronto Area and Hamilton. Eighty-two per cent of the funding will be invested
in Ontario and create 160,000 jobs. This grows to 190,000 jobs when provincial
support for transit projects in Kitchener-Waterloo and Ottawa is included.

    See how Metrolinx is creating a blueprint for a more effective
transportation system across the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton.

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For further information: Nicole Lippa-Gasparro, Press Secretary,
Minister's Office, (416) 327-1815 ; Bob Nichols, Media Liaison, (416)
327-1158

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