The Ontario Northland Railway unions are hoping a new premier will mean a new fate for the business lines of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC).
Brian Kelly, spokesman for the General Chairperson's Association representing unionized ONTC employees, said there is hope amongst his members that the government’s plan to divest the ONTC, announced a year ago, might be put on hold or reversed.
“We have some hope. As long as you have hope, there is opportunity. It’s been tough on our members, especially the younger ones, who have not been through this before,” he said.
With a new premier in place, he said the provincial Liberals won’t be eager to hold an election.
“They have a lot of fence mending to do, since they have annoyed pretty much every interest group out there.”
When the ONTC divestment was announced last March, the government said it could no longer subsidize its business lines, which included rail, a bus line and Ontera, a telecommunications company.
Since then, only Ontera has been put up for sale, with an announcement of a new owner expected this spring.
“People are concerned about what is going on, but it is quiet now,” said Kelly. “The first shoe to drop was Ontera, and all we know is that (the sale process) is supposed to be open and transparent and it is about as transparent as the bottom of a swamp.”
“We have asked for a copy of the RFP (Request for Proposals) for Ontera, and no one responded. We want to know what they are asking and what the criteria is.
“We haven’t heard anything from the transition board. They won’t return our phone calls.”
Paulette den Elzen, of Infrastructure Ontario (IO), said there is no other information to share at this time, other than the process Ontera has gone through.
During the pre-market due diligence phase, IO reviewed Ontera’s business line and prepared it for sale. On behalf of the province, a request for qualifications to invite interested buyers to submit their qualifications to operate Ontera was issued. The sale process for it began last October.
Proposals were evaluated and ranked and the pre-qualified buyers were selected. On Dec. 17, 2012, pre-qualified buyers were invited to submit formal proposals to purchase, manage and operate Ontera. One or more preferred buyers will be selected to negotiate details of a sales agreement.
“The process may be tailored to suit each business line,” she said. “The one I can describe is for Ontera, because it is going through the process right now. As other lines move into the divestment phase, we will offer more information.
“No other timelines have been released. I am not aware of a set timeline when the divestment has to be completed and I don’t know what business line is next.”
The ministry sets the policies, and IO acts as an advisor on the process to be used. “One of the challenging things with the project is that it is so competitive, so the government wants to get the best deal. To ensure that, it has to be competitive and it means you can’t be sharing information publicly. You would be showing your hand, so to speak. But, there has been good interest in Ontera,” said den Elzen.
Laura Blondeau, communications director for the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, said the business line that was least complicated for a sale was Ontera.
“As far as the other business lines, we are not sure which is next. And it is not a fire sale, as some have been saying (the ONTC) is.
“It’s a tedious process, and detailed. That is why IO has specialized people to deal with this, due to the complexity of it. These are business lines that some have evolved over a century so it is no easy undertaking,” she said.
“We originally said, when announced, that our intention was a target date of March, 2013, for the divestment. But ultimately, it will take as long as it will take. It is extremely complicated, and in a year, nothing has been sold yet, so it is a responsible and methodical process.”
Newly appointed Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle said the divestment process will continue, “but it needs to continue in a way that makes sense.”
Gravelle intends to “reach to the municipal leadership” in the region, listen to their concerns, but also “make sure they understand the basis on which our government made the decision they did in terms of the divestment.”
