Ontario transportation minister requests Toronto award subway car contract to Alstom Thunder Bay

Ontario's transportation minister is asking the City of Toronto to consider a sole-source contract with Alstom that would see 55 new subway cars built in Thunder Bay.

Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria made the request in a letter to Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow on Wednesday, stating it was prompted by economic uncertainty sparked by the Canada-U.S. trade war.

"I am requesting that the City of Toronto recognize this historic opportunity and consider a sole-source procurement with Alstom, which would support Ontario workers in Thunder Bay and across our province," Sarkaria's letter states. "The Ontario government will work with the city and the federal government to ensure the successful delivery of the trains should this decision lead to any changes in the project scope."

Ontario has contributed $758 million toward the building of the subway cars, which will be used on Line 2.

The overall cost of the project is just over $2 billion, with the City of Toronto and federal government also pledging $758 million each.

"We're in an unprecedented time right now," Sarkaria said in an interview with CBC News on Thursday. "President [Donald] Trump's tariffs and the uncertainty they have caused have really taken aim at Ontario's economy, and we've got to do everything in our power to support and protect Ontario workers and businesses."

A request for proposals (RFP) for the construction of the cars was issued in December. A Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) spokesperson said Thursday the RFP has closed, and bids are being reviewed.

The TTC is planning to award the contract early next year. When the federal funding was announced in November, Chrystia Freeland, then deputy prime minister, said the cars would be built in Thunder Bay.

"Mayor Chow supports Buying Canadian whenever possible," Zeus Eden, spokesperson for Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow's office, said in an email to CBC News. "With President Trump attacking Canada's economy, we need to support local workers, jobs and businesses. We are working in collaboration with the provincial and federal government to deliver public transit for Torontonians and to support Canadian jobs."

Eden said the mayor speaks regularly with Minister Sarkaria and will work with the province to see if there request is feasible. Sarkaria said he expects to find support for his request in the mayor's office.

"Premier [Doug] Ford a couple of weeks ago announced a procurement policy which said we were going to not only ban American companies, but also look to existing contracts with which we can source more from Ontario," Sarkaria said. "The City of Toronto also did such a motion through their council, led by Mayor Chow."

Kristen Oliver, councillor for Thunder Bay's Westfort ward — the ward in which the Alstom plant is located — and chair of the city's Intergovernmental Affairs Committee, said she was happy to see the provincial support.

"We will definitely be bringing a letter of recommendation to council to support some advocacy on this."