“What took you so long?”: NDP responds to Ford’s proposed Buy Ontario rules

QUEEN'S PARK — In response to the Ford government’s new Buy Ontario bill released today, Shadow Minister for Economic Development Catherine Fife (Kitchener—Waterloo) and Shadow Minister for Finance Jessica Bell (University—Rosedale) have issued the following statement:

“Doug Ford’s jobs disaster has seen unemployment skyrocket to its highest level in a decade, and the trade war is only escalating,” said Fife.

“Massive loopholes currently allow foreign companies to bid and win contracts to supply steel, manage employment service providers, and build public hospitals and public transit, all while Ford leaves qualified Ontario companies and workers on the sidelines.

"If Ford was so interested in finally prioritizing companies here at home, the Conservatives should have just passed our Buy Ontario First motion. They need to finally leverage our public spending to protect Ontario workers, and the companies that employ them."

“It’s interesting that the Ford government has finally come forth with their own version of a Buy Ontario procurement plan, after refusing to vote for the NDP’s Buy Ontario First motion just a couple of weeks ago,” said Bell.

“Hopefully they were taking notes.”

“Workers, businesses, and New Democrats have been demanding that the Conservatives strengthen their procurement rules to prioritize Ontario and Canadian companies since Trump’s trade war began. What took them so long? Ontarians need more than announcements: they need concrete action.”