TTC cars get the nod
Council divided as Canadian-made deal passes 25-18
Thunder Bay mayor in tears on hearing good news
Sep. 26, 2006. 07:18 AM
JOHN SPEARS
CITY HALL BUREAU
In a decision that moved the mayor of Thunder Bay to tears, Toronto city councillors last night endorsed the TTC's decision to buy 234 subway cars from Bombardier's northern Ontario plant for $710 million without seeking competitive bids from other suppliers.
After a gruelling day-long debate, councillors voted 25-18 to go with the contract, which proponents say will mean 300 jobs for five years.
"I guess you'll have a nice trip home," a supporter of the Bombardier deal told Thunder Bay Mayor Lynn Peterson as a small tear trickled down a cheek.
"Every job counts," Peterson told reporters. "Somebody is employed, can pay their mortgage or feed their kids. It doesn't matter if it's in my city or yours."
With a Nov. 13 election in the offing, Mayor David Miller and city councillors cranked up the political rhetoric during a raucous council session.
"I'm shocked, utterly shocked as a Torontonian, as a proud Canadian and as the mayor of Toronto, that there's even an argument about this," Miller told a lunchtime rally organized by the Labour Council of Toronto and York Region.
"I think it's shameful to play politics with people's families, lives and jobs. Thunder Bay's a great city in our province. It needs this plant, and if the people of Thunder Bay are going to be able to live in decency and dignity, it needs the high quality jobs there, the high-tech jobs, and it needs Toronto's business."
City council doesn't vote directly on the choice of supplier, but must approve financing terms.
While German-based Siemens said it could have supplied the cars for a lower price, two consultants hired by the TTC said the price negotiated with Bombardier was a reasonable one.
But the Bombardier contract has been a flashpoint at city hall.
Rick Ducharme, the former chief general manager of the TTC, resigned from his post in June, charging in a letter that TTC chair Howard Moscoe meddled in the controversial decision to allow Bombardier the exclusive rights to outfit the TTC with the subway cars, without going to public tender.
The sole-source approach was a major concern to several councillors, including mayoral candidate Jane Pitfield. Opponents argued the city might have saved hundreds of millions going to an open market, especially in view of the MFP computer-leasing scandal that rocked city hall a few years ago.
"The public expected this to go to a public tender," Pitfield told the Star. She also said worrying about jobs in Thunder Bay isn't Toronto's concern."A decision based on keeping jobs in Ontario or Canada should have no bearing on the decision, because we need to be more concerned about best value for residents in the city."
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and a federal government representative also signed off on the Bombardier deal. Miller noted that the federal and provincial governments will pay much of the contract's cost.
"If I as mayor stood up and said `We're going to take $500 million from the federal government and the provincial government and we're not going to use it to create jobs in Ontario — we're going to use it to create jobs in China — the federal and provincial governments would never give us another nickel for public transit," Miller said before the final vote was cast.
Peterson defended the deal as being in Toronto taxpayer interest. "They got it all. Everything that was asked for was delivered: a great car, leading-edge, very safe, comfortable, at a good price that's been checked by two outside consultants. (It's) a win-win."
Councillor Howard Moscoe, who chairs the TTC, said the commission had considered a competitive tender but changed its mind after discovering that Siemens, a likely bidder, makes its subway cars in China.
"We got a good deal," he said.
"Going to the market is not a guarantee of the best price," Moscoe said.
Opponents complained bitterly about the process that led to the agreement.
"It comes down to transparency and open government...this deal is clouded," said councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong (Ward 34, Don Valley East), who added it's impossible to know what the best deal is without bidding.
While Bombardier is the only Canadian manufacturer at present, an open contract could prompt another company to set up a Canadian plant to bid on the Toronto contract, Minnan-Wong said.
"The ideal situation is we have an open contract with Canadian content provisions in it," he said. "You get the best price and protect Canadian jobs. It could be a win-win," he added.
Councillor Mike Del Grande (Ward 39, Scarborough-Agincourt) accused fellow councillors of hypocrisy for insisting on made-in-Canada subway cars while buying foreign-built cars for personal use.
"Even the mayor drives a Prius, which is built in Japan," he said.
