THUNDER BAY — Mayor Bill Mauro is once again expressing grave concerns about the future of Thunder Bay's Bombardier plant.
The plant will fall under new ownership on Friday, when the sale of Bombardier Transportation to France-based Alstom is completed.
Bombardier and union officials alike have warned that the facility is in dire need of new contracts.
The national president of Unifor recently said the threat of permanent closure "has never been more real."
Mauro raised the issue this week in an online discussion with Ontario transportation minister Caroline Mulroney.
In an interview Wednesday, the mayor said "There are some red flags for me, I don't mind saying, as there are with a number of other people who are working on the file."
When a reporter asked Mauro for clarification, he declined to be more specific.
"I'm going to just halt it there. I don't really wanna get into too many of the details. We've got a number of partners here that we all hope can come together and get this across the finish line."
The mayor said "we just need to see the province and the federal government and the City of Toronto in alignment" with regard to new orders for mass transit vehicles.
"We saw that out of the 60-car LRV option [for Toronto], only 13 of the cars went forward as a first part of that, which makes you wonder why that would be the case."
Mauro revealed that he also talked on the phone about the Bombardier plant today with federal infrastructure minister Catherine McKenna, following earlier chats with Thunder Bay MPs Marcus Powlowski and Patty Hajdu.
He said he will draft a letter to the federal government by Thursday outlining the city's concerns, and will copy other stakeholders.
"The pipeline will be empty soon in terms of work for the local plant. We think there are solutions to this. We think the money is there. We know the demand is there" for more mass transit vehicles for Toronto, the mayor said.
City delegation renews plea for a mental health and addictions crisis centre
The online meeting with Mulroney occurred as part of the 2021 Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference where delegates from various municipalities had an opportunity to speak directly with several provincial cabinet ministers.
Mauro, City Manager Norm Gale, and Councillor Brian McKinnon also lobbied Health Minister Christine Elliot to fund a mental health and addictions crisis centre in Thunder Bay.
The mayor said a formal request was submitted to the province last year after a meeting involving about 20 different agencies involved in the delivery of mental health and addictions services.
"I asked them to develop a proposal, and we submitted it to the ministry, so we were following up on that."
Mauro said he's also asked for support from the Local Health Integration Network.
The facility would have 40 beds, including 20 for crisis cases and 20 for addictions.
In talks with other ministers, the Thunder Bay delegation also lobbied for a wide variety of other priorities identified by the city including funding for police, Thunder Bay Expressway improvements and the next generation of 911 service.
