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Streetcars funding delay hurts jobs: NDP – Metro US

Streetcars funding delay hurts jobs: NDP

The New Democrats say a delay in funding for new streetcars to be built in Thunder Bay will hurt workers in the northern Ontario city.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says the provincial government should pony up its one-third funding share for the Toronto Transit Commission’s new streetcars.

Horwath says funding the project would support jobs at Bombardier’s Thunder Bay streetcar assembly plant, ease traffic congestion and help fight climate change.

She says the streetcar contract is a boost to workers at a time when the province is losing thousands of manufacturing jobs.

Horwath accuses the province of refusing to pay its share, leaving hundreds of workers in limbo.

Deputy premier George Smitherman says the government is willing to find a way to work with the City of Toronto to get the new streetcars, but adds he’s still evaluating funding applications for eligibility.