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Council continues fight to have Go Transit decision reversed

North Bay City councillors passed two motions during Monday night's Regular Council meeting regarding the Go Transit Refurbishment Program.
North Bay City councillors passed two motions during Monday night's Regular Council meeting regarding the Go Transit Refurbishment Program.

Council is asking for an investigation into the recent decision by Metrolinx to award their refurbishment of GO Transit cars to a Quebec company who successfully bid against its current contract holder, the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC).

The ONTC is currently finishing up a very successful refurbishment program on Go Transit coaches and has been publicly acknowledged for the quality of work and adherence to budget

Metrolinx has recently announced the award of additional coach refurbishment to a firm based in Quebec, a decision made that councillors believe was based solely on a low tender price and that no consideration was given to the net financial benefit to the Province of Ontario nor consideration to the economic impact to the affected communities in Northern Ontario.

Council is requesting that the Metrolinx award to an out-of-Province firm be immediately suspending pending a review of the option that would provide the best net value to North Bay, the region, all of Northern Ontario and ultimately the taxpayers of Ontario.

It appears that this decision will result in a net negative impact in excess of $6 million dollars to the Province of Ontario.

Councillor Mac Bain says that certain decisions were made because proper procedures weren't followed.

He says that The Ministry of Transportation has a policy that says that they have to review, in every decision that they make, how their decisions are going to positively impact communities across Ontario.

Council believes that losing 109 jobs does not positively impact North Bay.

Since Metrolinx is a crown corporation of the Ministry of Transportation, Bain says that they didn't follow their own internal policies.

"We believe that the auditor general, along with Ministry of Finance, didn't follow their procurement policies either," he says. "So we're asking them to review everything."

Bain says that the council is asking the province, through the Auditor General, to review those policies to ensure that everything was done properly. If not, council hopes to have the decision reversed so that jobs in North Bay and North Eastern Ontario can be replenished.

Bain says that there's an economic spin off for every job that's created and a negative ripple effect every time a job is lost.

"The impact is huge."

Council is also requesting that Ontario Northland be identified and supported by the Province in its Northern Ontario Growth Plan as a key component in the transportation network required to grow and sustain the economy in Northern Ontario.

Despite requests from municipal representatives, the final Northern Ontario Growth Plan has not recognized the importance of the ONTC to the present and future economic success of Northern Ontario.

A second, follow up motion was forwarded by Councillor Dave Mendocino to supplement the first motion which was passed on July 4th regarding the decision to award the contract to an out-of-province company.

On July 5th, word broke that the Quebec firm that had been awarded the contract had a pending sale of the company, raising speculation as to whether or not the deal was made fully above board.

Councillor Mike Anthony, who forwarded the first motion, says that in light of that new wrinkle, in that the Quebec company is involved in what could be construed as a prize pending sale, that council should have something on record, highlighting this information. It would be sent to Dalton McGuinty's office so that a reversal can be made.

While council remains optimistic that a meeting with the Premier will be granted, albeit in its final hour, so far all attempts to speak to him directly have not been returned.