Windsor city council to consider 'Buy Canadian' procurement policy

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 17, 2025 11:34 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

The City of Windsor volition see a question astatine a meeting Apr. 14 to prioritize Canadian-made goods and services successful its procurement process.

The motion, to beryllium introduced by Coun. Kieran McKenzie, calls upon the national and provincial governments to region immoderate impediments to municipalities favouring Canadian companies successful their purchasing decisions.

McKenzie began discussing the contented last November, helium said, with colleagues from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO).

"If you look astatine the full walk and procurement dollars for goods and services, that fig gets into … astir $10 cardinal per twelvemonth … crossed each of Ontario," helium said.

"If you took that full envelope of procurement from municipalities and conscionable said, 'No. None of it is going to the United States,' I deliberation that that represents a definite magnitude of leverage that could assistance the … national authorities and the state successful their discussions with … their counterparts successful the United States."

U.S. President Donald Trump began informing of tariffs successful November, and promised sweeping 25-per-cent tariffs against Canadian and Mexican imports during his archetypal time successful office.

Constant changes to tariff regime

After a one-month delay, helium followed done connected March 4 — applying a lower, 10 per cent tariff, on Canadian vigor imports — lone to intermission a fig of the measures over the consequent 2 days.

Last week, helium imposed 25 per cent tariffs connected imported alloy and aluminum.

McKenzie said municipal procurement policies typically person to respect Canada's commercialized agreements, which often prohibit favouring 1 nation's goods implicit others.

City of Windsor unit warned officials successful 2020 that it risked moving afoul of specified agreements if it honoured a petition from the national representing the city's car workers to perpetrate to purchasing locally-assembled Chrysler Pacificas for its fleet.

But McKenzie said helium nary longer believes Canadian cities beryllium that work to the United States.

"My presumption is Mr. Trump has fundamentally voided immoderate and each obligations that we person to respect the commercialized agreements that are presently successful spot with the United States, and arsenic a result, we person each accidental to proceed arsenic we spot acceptable with respect to procurement," McKenzie said. 

"Having said that, our medication has articulated publically already that they bash person immoderate concerns successful that regard. We'll person that speech astatine the assembly table."

But Coun. Gary Kaschak told CBC successful February that helium excessively questioned the request to obey the Canada U.S. Mexico escaped commercialized statement when Trump is not.  

"I'm wondering if it's a procurement escaped for each present moving forward," helium said. 

But commercialized agreements aren't the lone imaginable obstruction to buying Canadian, said Victoria Mirlocca, the chair of the Ontario Public Buyers Association.

There's besides outgo and availability.

"Canada, portion it's a ample country, possibly they don't person expertise that is successful the United States oregon that is successful the European Union," she said.

"Making sure we person that contention excavation keeps suppliers honorable arsenic well. So making definite that there's ever that competitory pricing."

Asked if the metropolis had spoken with the state astir expanding backing to offset possible higher costs associated with home procurement, McKenzie said the enactment is being carried retired by AMO.

"We've gone done already immoderate beauteous important inflationary periods successful caller times, and determination person been immoderate measures of effect that we've seen from the state to assistance offset immoderate of those further costs," helium said.

"This volition beryllium different iteration of that. I surely anticipation that the state would respond successful a mode that would assistance to soften the blow."

In summation to endorsing a bargain Canadian policy, McKenzie's question besides restates the city's absorption to the American tariffs and its enactment for escaped and just trade.

"The City of Windsor urges some the Canadian and United States governments to prosecute successful constructive dialog to resoluteness trade disputes and fortify bilateral commercialized relationships, with a peculiar absorption on protecting the automotive assemblage and its workers;" the question reads.