Town council defers McCurdy Ave. watermain project, "Buy Ontario" legislation part of debate

A watermain project for McCurdy Dr. will not be proceeding this year, it might next year, and the province’s “Buy Ontario” legislation was part of the debate into the matter.

Town council will not proceed the tender on the McCurdy Ave. watermain replacement, which would have gone from Sandwich St. S. to Lilac Ct., and will instead see if it can be done as one whole project for the entire street in 2027.

The project came in over-budget by $682,872, according to a report by administration, with the province’s Buy Ontario Act accounting for an additional $124,045 tacked on to award the tender. Had the recommendation to proceed with phase one of the project been approved, the over-expenditure would have been funded through the general reserve, wastewater reserve and water reserve.

“On December 11, 2025 the Province of Ontario passed Bill 72, the Buy Ontario Act. This legislation was created to regulate procurement within the public sector in Ontario, prioritizing Ontario and Canadian-made goods and services. On April 13, 2026 the Buy Ontario Procurement Directive and the Municipal Buy Ontario Procurement Directive came into effect under the Buy Ontario Act for all government entities, including municipalities,” a report co-authored by engineering technologist Jesse Daudlin and manager of engineering Todd Hewitt. “In accordance with the Province of Ontario’s Municipal Buy Ontario Capital Infrastructure Policy and the evaluation criteria outlined in the tender documents, compliant bidders were evaluated using their submitted Domestic Supply Chain Plans. Following application of the prescribed evaluation methodology, a 10 per cent evaluation advantage was granted to the contractor that had submitted the highest Ontario made content.”

The report from Hewitt added: “The implementation of the Buy Ontario Act will cost the Town an additional $124,045 to award this tender.”

Marco Gardonio, president of the Heavy Construction Association of Windsor, addressed town council on the Buy Ontario Act. He said the association has met with town staff on Buy Ontario and how they are being applied to tenders within the Town of Amherstburg.

“Those conversations have started to become more open and constructive and staff have informed me they are looking more at the commitment aspect when appropriate,” said Gardonio. “I should also say our association has nothing against Buy Ontario. We are the Ontario content. Our people live here, our people work here, our equipment is here.”

Gardonio said their question is the method the province offers and what works best with heavy construction work.

“The province has given municipalities more than one way to do this requirement that they’ve put down to us.” 

There’s the evaluated approach, Gardonio said, which was the method used with the McCurdy Dr. project and gives bidders the opportunity to present how much Ontario content they would use in the project. He added that is a tough number to determine at points and “it’s an arbitrary number the contractors are filling in.”

Such a process has consequences surrounding costs of a project, he added, and the association believes the lowest price should always take priority. The commitment method should be used, rather than the evaluated method, Gardonio told town council.

The act is new and can be difficult for contractors and municipal administrations to figure out, he added.

“There is no offshoring. There are no foreign bidders bidding on most municipal contracts. Using a scored method is just a separation of a few points and no actual benefit to Ontario in that sense,” he said.

Gardonio said he is not criticizing administration as it was a method the province allows. 

“The commitment approach avoids these problems where the lowest bid does not win the project. A threshold can be set. The County of Essex has a threshold they’ve set. Other municipalities have set thresholds, the MTO has a threshold of 51 per cent,” he said. 

Their association was willing to assist with market research, Gardonio said.

“We want council to align the commitment method as the standard. When it has to get away from the commitment method, that administration has a reason to go away from that method. That’s the simplest and fairest way for contactors when they’re bidding on projects,” said Gardonio.

Councillor Diane Pouget asked why the town wouldn’t try to save over $121,000, acknowledging the Buy Ontario Act. Deputy CAO Melissa Osborne said the construction industry is also finding it difficult to determine the Buy Ontario content they’re putting forward.

Osborne added consultants tried to determine if the commitment method could be stood behind if challenged. She said the town has to have market research and evidence otherwise the town could face legal challenges. The town chose the method to put the responsibility on the construction industry and their attestation to Ontario content. The group that comes back with the highest percentage of Ontario content gets an “arbitrary ten per cent reduction” from their price, and that brought the recommended bidder below the lowest bidder.

Council was able to reject the tender and defer the project, she added, due to it being over-budget. 

“It’s also important to understand this project was over regardless,” she said. There were six companies who bid on the job.

Osborne said if they used a different Buy Ontario option, it could still come in higher than what the town budgeted for.

“This is not a simple process. It’s not simple for the industry that does this every day. You could fully expect this legislation has cost us money that is sight unseen. The $121,000 is apparent,” she added.

Antonella Little, the town’s procurement specialist, told town council there are two approaches available under the Buy Ontario Act and each will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Procurement specialists are working together to try and best deliver the objectives of the legislation.

Pouget believed the bidder only benefits successful bidders but burdens the taxpayers and called for the town to speak with the province on it. She said it will be time consuming for town staff to ensure they are monitoring bids and ensuring content is from Ontario.

“The province has definitely made this complicated and difficult to follow,” said Councillor Linden Crain.

Hewitt cautioned that prices that have already been put forth may not fall, noting they were competitively bid. Supply costs, timing of the project and availability of companies can factor into overall costs.

“This watermain needs replacement. It needs to be replaced now and it will need to be replaced next year,” said Hewitt.

There have already been several breaks along the watermain already, he said, but emphasized residents will have safe drinking water.

Councillor Don McArthur believed there would be benefits waiting until next year and doing one tender. He agreed that costs could go up, but there would be opportunities for economies of scale by doing it at once and bundling things together.

If the next council wants to put out an early tender, there could be cost benefits if the companies are “hungry for jobs.” McArthur said having a sidewalk installed as part of the project was a highlight and doing the project at once prevents a “sidewalk to nowhere” that would stop at Lilac Ct. for several months.

Councillor Molly Allaire said she was willing to move the staff recommendation to do the project in two phases, with the first phase being to replace the watermain from Sandwich St. S. to Lilac Ct.

“I think I’ve been asking about McCurdy Dr. for three years. It’s been in our capital budget since I’ve been elected,” said Allaire. “It’s needed to be done. I agree with everyone that when you bundle things together, it makes everything a lot cheaper. This is done, we have to accept it now. We have to move forward.”

Allaire said costs go up and if it is pushed back a year, things will be more expensive. She said the last council didn’t have budget deliberations until February and new councillors will be forced to make a huge decision.

“To step back and not make this decision now after all this work has gone into it would be insane to me. This has needed to be done multiple times,” said Allaire.

Councillor Peter Courtney believed the province is downloading more on municipalities and believed the best mode of attack is to record how municipalities have to “foot the bill” on such legislation.

“All we can do is record this so it can show how much it’s costing us on our bids and tenders,” he said.

Pouget opposed Allaire’s motion, believing they could get a cheaper rate putting things together and putting out a tender in the spring.

Mayor Michael Prue said he couldn’t support Allaire’s motion, stating both he and Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb spoke against the Buy Ontario policy at county council.

“There are a lot of hair-brained schemes that come out of Queen’s Park. I was there for 13 years and I listened to a lot of it,” said Prue. “I never was on the government side to make them but a lot of them don’t make sense. This one doesn’t make sense at all.”

Prue said he agreed with Courtney that the town add up what the legislation costs the town and send an invoice. 

“It doesn’t work for the taxpayer,” said Prue.

Prue said they can’t sit back and abide by policies that “cost the taxpayers a fortune.” 

“If our best way out of this is simply say no to all of it and go back, that’s where I’m going to go with this,” said Prue.

Council defeated Allaire’s motion and agreed to defer the tender until 2027 when both phases of the project can be considered by the new council.

“Bundling gives us opportunities to save significant money,” said McArthur.

Town council defers McCurdy Ave. watermain project - Buy Ontario legislation part of debate

By Ron Giofu