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Alstom urges Quebec to open bidding
Montreal—Industrial company Alstom Canada is calling for open bidding for a major transit contract in Montreal. The deal—worth $1.2 billion—is for the replacement of Montreal subway trains. A Quebec minister has already said the contract should go to Bombardier Corp., without competition, according to a report from Canadian Press.
Claude Bechard, Quebec minister of economic development, said Bombardier should get most of the contract to compensate for the shelving last month of its CSeries aircraft program, which was to have created 5,000 jobs in Montreal.
More than 3,000 residents of La Pocatiere, Que., the site of Bombardier’s rail equipment plant, attended a rally in early March to press the Quebec government to give the contract to Bombardier. Bechard, whose riding includes La Pocatiere, also attended the rally.
But French-owned Alstom could just as easily build the subway cars at its plant in Sorel-Tracy, Que., according to Pierre Renault, vice-president of human resources and communications at Alstom Canada.
Alstom wants the Montreal Transit Commission to use open bidding for the project.
“This is the best and only way to be sure the taxpayer, and the Montreal users of the metro, will have their money’s worth,” Renault said.
The Montreal Transit Commission is bound by statutes to use open bidding for large contracts, unless the Quebec government directs it otherwise.
At press time, Bombardier could not be reached for comment.
A decision on the contract is expected within the next few months.
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