A local city councillor is responding to complaints of foreign steel being used in a large Windsor project.
Dozens of local steelworkers and workers from unions across Ontario rallied on Friday at the corner of Banwell Road and the E.C. Row Expressway in front of a new overpass currently being constructed.
Workers expressed their frustrations during the rally that the steel being used in the project was not Canadian-made.
The workers are calling for policy changes to support the Canadian steel industry in the face of U.S. tariffs.
Ward 7 councillor, Angelo Marignani, says while he completely understands their frustrations, he says city administration states this work was procured in 2024 prior to any tariffs being implemented by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Marignani says that Facca Inc. was employed as a sub contractor for the bridge structural work, and they acquired the steel pillars through two Canadian distributors who sourced the steel from Korea and Luxembourg - meaning they were not tariffed.
He says there are challenges as there are laws in place for procurement that have to be followed.
"We can't be discriminatory against a particular group, there has to be an open bid. So there's the challenge that we have because sure, we want to buy local, and we're saying 'okay, we're only going to buy local', but then all it takes is another company saying 'you're doing an illegal act right now, and now we're going to sue you because we could've gotten that bid, and we should've gotten that bid'."
Marignani says there needs to be change in future projects.
"There will be a greater focus on locally made steel products when they do fit the project, and keep in mind too, that has a lot to do with the contractors. So the city can say that maybe in one of our agreements we could say if you could procure from a local source, your bid, your RFP would be stronger."
He says while it's too late to change this project, the new hospital will be one that the city needs to focus on.
"I think what's really important is moving forward, when we now have that new order the city will be placing for the hospital site, I think it's important that a) we save money, but at the same time really focus on that local procurement."
Marignani says the cost of these specific steel beams is less than one per cent of the total project cost of the overpass.
He adds that the city is still going through and trying to finalize a 'Buy Canadian' procurement policy which was discussed by council earlier this year to prioritize Canadian-made products where feasible.
Construction of the overpass project will be ongoing into 2027. The nearly $100-million upgrades are needed to help accommodate traffic flow due to the NextStar Energy electric vehicle battery plant.