TORONTO — Transportation Ministry officers enforce Ontario’s laws wearing uniforms made in China — just like some flags bought by Queen’s Park.
The officers have been issued with shirts and pants from China that wear out faster and don’t hold their colour and stitching, Edie Strachan, president of OPSEU Local 506, said Friday.
“One officer complained that the material is significantly thinner, while another complained about the quality of the stitching which had resulted in seams separating,” she said.
The government should support local firms caught up in the economic downturn, Strachan said.
Ministry of Transportation officials referred calls about uniforms to the Ministry of Government Services, which didn’t respond in full to the made-in-China allegations.
But officials did say some suppliers of OPP and MTO uniforms are Ontario companies using pants and footwear from Mexico.
A day earlier, Premier Dalton McGuinty’s government was taken to task by New Democrat Welland MPP Peter Kormos for Queen’s Park buying Ontario flags made in China.
“That’s the problem with this whole thing, if you don’t buy (Ontario) then it is going to disappear and then you can’t buy,” Kormos said.
