November 30th, 2021

Ford must do more to get Alstom Thunder Bay at full capacity: MPP Monteith-Farrell

THUNDER BAY - Today’s transit announcement that Alstom will be refurbishing 94 GO Transit bi-level rail coaches is good news for workers at Thunder Bay’s plant, but the Ford government can and must do more to create more jobs by getting the plant running at full capacity, said MPP Judith Monteith-Farrell (Thunder Bay – Atikokan).

“I congratulate workers at Alstom Thunder Bay for making progress in their ongoing, tireless fight for their jobs,” said Monteith-Farrell. “The refurbishment of 94 GO Transit bi-level rail coaches means work will continue, but big orders for subways and GO trains are long overdue and would mean more jobs. The Ford government could have the plant running at full capacity but it needs to make a long-term commitment to Alstom Thunder Bay for more vehicles to meet the demand of the province’s transit projects in southern Ontario.”

Monteith-Farrell said over 1,000 people were working at the plant as recently as 2019, but that number has since declined sharply.

“As I’ve said many times, the Ford government needs to take action on a Made-in-Ontario strategy that will get the plant running back at full capacity,” said Monteith-Farrell. “The Alstom plant needs more transit orders from the province and the province needs more transit vehicles. Doug Ford needs to make the long-term orders with Alstom. Too many workers at the plant were laid-off and ignored by this government. They need their jobs back and Thunder Bay needs more stable long-term jobs. We need more than short-term measures from this government.”