So far, the federal government has introduced extremely limited “Buy Canadian” procurement rules, but U.S. companies keep getting preferential treatment for government contracts, and jobs keep getting shipped south of the border.

We need “Buy Canadian” rules applied to major projects like the $3 billion VIA Rail renewal. These rules also need to be expanded to match every “Buy American” rule down south that’s keeping Canadian businesses out of U.S. procurement competitions. If the U.S. won’t work with Canadian companies, then why are we still letting American companies line up for Canadian government contracts?

Unifor calls on the federal government to:

• Make accommodations to apply Buy Canadian Policy requirements retroactively for strategic nation-building, and high value (i.e. more than $1 billion) procurements not yet awarded. This includes the massive $3 billion procurement for new Via Rail locomotives and rail carriages.
• Disqualify U.S. suppliers from preferential treatment in the forthcoming Policy for Reciprocal Procurement, regardless of FTA partner status, given non-preferential treatment afforded to Canadian suppliers in the United States.
• Consider all statutory powers (including invoking and expanding the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act) to protect jobs and disincentivize the offshoring of Canadian production and impose tariffs or other heavy penalties on firms that comply with unjust U.S. trade orders. This can include barring goods previously made in Canada from re-entering the country from the United States or elsewhere.