Organized labour regarding Toronto Public Transit issue illuminate need to cancel Free Trade

Edited by John Stokes

The Canadian Auto Workers union together with the Toronto and York Region District Labour Council and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 113 call on the Ontario government to require a majority of Canadian content in the purchase of new light rail vehicles by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and require comprehensive domestic final assembly. So-called Free Trade with the United States has undermined the ability of government in Canada to protect such Canadian manufacturing jobs.

The TTC is in the process of tendering a project worth $1.2 billion for the purchase of 204 next generation low-floor streetcars, making it the largest light rail contract ever awarded in North America.

“Taxpayers dollars should be spent in Canada to support Canadian workers, their families and communities,” says CAW National President Buzz Hargrove.

“With 65,000 manufacturing jobs lost in Ontario last year alone, our elected officials must take the lead in protecting good jobs, and a policy for Canadian content is an important step in the right direction.”

The main funds for this project will come from the provincial government. With no Buy-Canadian content rules in place, similar to those in other countries, there is no guarantee that our economy will benefit from this record purchase.

Last year the TTC decided, based on a consultant’s report, to require only 25 per cent Canadian content on the light rail project and that there would be no requirement for final vehicle assembly in Canada.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has totally undermined the ability of businesses and labour groups to protect Canadian jobs. This is because the Canadian politicians who signed the Agreement provided U.S. Big Business with a "National Treatment" clause, which now technically forbids Canadian government agencies from protecting the rights of Canadian workers, in relation to defending national interests.

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