City excited by news of new ONR contract

Mayor Vic Fedeli said the city is "extremely proud" of the Ontario Northland Railway for winning an $81 million contract to refurbish GO Transit rail cars.

"The City of North Bay is extremely proud of Ontario Northland, its employees, and its management. This is a great day for the company, the city, and our future."

"We are also proud of the small role we played in securing this contract. This Council took a pro-active role by touring the ON shops, creating a SWOT Team to review the bid, and championing the letter-writing campaign to the Premier, our MPP Monique Smith, and all of the Cabinet Ministers and assistants."

"We are confident that Ontario Northland will provide a high-quality solution to GO Transit, and that this will lead to other successful bids. They’re in a new business now, and there’s a bright future ahead for the company. Also, the local economic spin-offs are great. Canadore College will provide training, the shops will be buying supplies for this contract, and their 30 new employees will be spending money in our city. This truly is a great day."

Roy Hains, Executive Vice-President Service Improvement and Operations at Ontario Northland, was very pleased with all of the work that went into the bid. He thanked the city for its efforts and congratulated the employees who all worked extremely hard during the last few years as the company was under review by the Provincial Government.

Hains advised that there will be several new buildings constructed on the site over the next several months to accomodate the job, with several practice cars arriving in the city shortly to allow the employees to get a feel for the job at hand.

Actual work on the contract should begin this September.

CAW President Brian Stevens said that this contract will have a "watershed affect to the whole region". After meeting with the employees this morning Stevens called the mood among all employees "very high" after the announcement."