While Quebec is preparing to inject billions into the purchase of city buses, Lion Électrique flirts with the lowest bidder rule and urgently calls for a “Buy Canada Act”.
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“You have to have a ‘Buy Canada Act’. We do not have a choice. It is a must. If we don’t do that, we put Canadian companies at a complete disadvantage, ”said Marc Bédard, president and founder of Lion Électrique, after a visit to the Canadian Club of Montreal on Monday.
“It’s not a blank check. We know that when vehicles are produced in Canada, each direct job in the manufacturing industry will create seven to ten indirect jobs. It’s not nothing, ”he added.
On Monday, The newspaper reported that a handful of lobbyists from Volvo (Prévost and Nova Bus) and Lion are positioning themselves to obtain public contracts of $ 5 billion announced by Prime Minister François Legault.
In the coming months, Quebec will invest $ 2.6 billion in the construction of garages and $ 2.4 billion in the purchase of electric buses, which makes players here and abroad salivate.
Lowest bidder criticized
“In addition, there is the rule of the lowest bidder today, which still applies. We know what that means. If you produce in another country where people are not socially protected, normally you will sell your product for less, ”he lamented.
According to him, the abolition of the rule of the lowest bidder does not mean that the state will pay “anything”.
For example, in California, explains Mr. Bédard, sometimes you have to qualify for certain criteria before you even offer your price for a contract, so price no longer becomes the most important criterion in the equation.
“Why don’t we protect ourselves? When we take American federal funding, we cannot sell vehicles from Saint-Jérôme. We’re building a factory in Illinois right now, ”he explained.
$ 150,000 rebate
While Quebec is already offering purchase subsidies of $ 150,000 for $ 300,000 electric school buses made here, Lion continues to drive home the point.
According to Marc Bédard, American manufacturers had long been aware that Quebec was preparing to demand that school buses be made here in order to qualify for government discounts.
Today, he does not understand the exit of companies from Drummondville, such as Autobus Thomas and Autobus Girardin, which also want to be entitled to the rebate, even if they sell American buses.
According to Mr. Bedard, these companies only have to manufacture their school buses here.
► On Monday, The newspaper mentioned that the Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, met with Tesla executives last month in California.