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Ottawa

West Block, 326 Thunder Bay


Ottawa, Ontario 409 George St.
K1A 0A6 Thunder Bay, Ontario
Tel: 613-992-3061 Tel: 807-623-6000
Fax: 613-995-3515 Fax: 807-623-6001
Toll-Free: 1-800-667-6186

Atikokan Fort Frances


113A Main Street E. 140 4th St. W.
P.O. Box 40 Fort Frances, Ontario
Atikokan, Ontario P9A 3B8
P0T 1C0
Tel: 807-597-2000 John Rafferty Tel: 807-274-9313
Fax: 807-274-3597
Fax: 807-597-2227 Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay – Rainy River

April 28, 2009.


Minister John Baird
Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
Tower C - 330 Sparks St.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K1A 0N5

Dear Minister Baird,

I am writing to express my support for the recently announced purchase of Bombardier


streetcars by the City of Toronto, and to request the federal government provide one third
of the public money required to implement this important deal. I am also writing to
express my concerns about your recent public comments on the matter.

As you know, the city of Thunder Bay has been particularly hard hit by both the forestry
and manufacturing crises. As a result, we have seen the loss of thousands of jobs and
many workers still face an uncertain future. As such, the recently announced deal
between the City of Toronto and Bombardier Inc. is an extremely important and positive
development for the people of Thunder Bay that will create and protect hundreds of jobs
in our region over the next decade.

Indeed, this deal is a win-win-win arrangement for the people of Canada. While creating
jobs in Thunder Bay, this deal with also create jobs in and upgrade the infrastructure of
the City of Toronto, and help Montreal based Bombardier expand its international
advantage in the transportation manufacturing sector.

Minister, your government has repeatedly stated that; it wanted to protect and create jobs
in Canada, that it is ready to invest large sums of money for infrastructure and economic
stimulus, and wants to help Canadian companies survive the current economic crisis. As
the federal Transportation Minister, you are in a unique position to pursue all of the
above objectives by ensuring that the federal government provides a full one-third of the
public money required to fund this project.
I would also like to take this opportunity Minister to express my disappointment in your
recent public comments on this deal. I read today that you said this deal may not qualify
for federal stimulus money because; “We [Conservatives] want to create jobs now. That's
a 10-year contract." I must point out, that under the negotiated deal the first streetcar must
be built by Bombardier and delivered to the City of Toronto within two years, which
means that production must in fact begin as soon as possible. Also, while the work
would be undertaken immediately, the new jobs created by this project would in fact last
for the duration of the contract – ten years, and even longer if options are exercised by the
buyer. I hope you will agree that this project does in fact create jobs and economic
activity right away and that the ability to keep people working beyond the current
economic crisis should not disqualify this or any other infrastructure project from
receiving federal stimulus money this year.

In closing Minister, I would like to thank you for giving this matter your most urgent
attention. I also urge you to revisit your public comments on this matter to date and to not
disqualify this project from receiving federal stimulus funds simply because it will create
jobs that may outlast the current economic crisis. I cannot overstate the importance of
this project to the local economy of Thunder Bay and request, and strongly urge you to
approve, federal funding that amounts to one-third of the public money required for this
project before the contract deadline of June 27, 2009.

Sincerely,

John Rafferty,
Member of Parliament (Thunder Bay – Rainy River)

Delivered by Hand

Cc:
Hon. Jack Layton, Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada.
Bruce Hyer, Member of Parliament (Thunder Bay – Superior North)
Premier Dalton McGuinty, Province of Ontario
Andrea Horwath, Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party
Mayor Lynn Peterson, City of Thunder Bay
Mayor David Miller, City of Toronto
Councillor Adam Giambrone, Chair of the Toronto Transit Commission
Pierre Beaudoin, President and CEO, Bombardier
President Ken Lewenza, Canadian Autoworkers Union.

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