The layoffs will affect about half the plant’s workers. Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives said the cuts are the fault of the federal Liberals, citing a lack of federal money for its transit plans. The Liberals said the funds are available, but the province hasn’t given project details it needs to decide whether to allocate them. Two major Ontario contracts—for TTC streetcars and Metrolinx’s Go Transit rail cars—are set to finish at the end of this year. Dominic Pasqualino, president of Unifor Local 1075, said more cuts than just the 550 are likely; he blamed the provincial government’s lack of new contracts with the firm, as well as President Donald Trump’s minimum threshold requirement of U.S.-made products. (Canadian Press, CBC)

Talking point: Even if the political dispute between Ontario and Ottawa is resolved, Bombardier is winding down production for U.S. contracts in Canada. Also Wednesday, the firm said it will lay off 87 workers at a Quebec plant, partially because a contract for New York subway cars is ending. “With the Buy American Act, it’s very difficult to leverage our Canadian facilities,” said Bombardier spokesperson Eric Prud’Homme. Local transportation projects in the U.S. currently require that 65 per cent of material is U.S.-made; that’s going up to 70 per cent in the fall. Bombardier could make up the gap with Canadian orders, but the firm has had vehicle-delivery delays and quality issues with both the TTC and Metrolinx, the Ontario-owned Crown corporation responsible for Go Transit. The latter firm gave it financial penalties for missing deadlines. Its issues have caused it to miss out on other major contracts. In December 2018, Via Rail chose Siemens over Bombardier for its new trains, also citing on-time delivery as a key factor.