Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services is adding three shiny-new pumper trucks to its firefighting fleet, but city officials say buying Canadian isn't going to happen in this case.
We're paying Safetek Emergency Vehicles of Abbotsford, B.C. a total of $5,191,722 for three Smeal/Spartan Metro Star pumpers, but the chassis and cabs won't be made in Canada.
They'll be manufactured in the United States and shipped to British Columbia for completion.
No Canadian manufacturer builds fire trucks entirely on our side of the border, city councillors were told last week.
In fact, the hundreds of bits and pieces that make up a truck or automobile are remarkably well-travelled before they arrive in our Ontario driveways.
"For instance, a transmission module for auto parts begins as scrap metal in Guelph and then crosses the Canada, USA and Mexico borders seven times before it becomes an automatic transmission for a vehicle," says Brent Lamming, the city's deputy chief administrative officer for community development and enterprise services.
"The integration and complexity of supply chains makes it difficult to determine the financial impact to the city from tariffs," Lamming said in a Buy Canadian report prepared for Mayor Matthew Shoemaker and city councillors.
Why are we buying three pumper trucks at the same time?
"The market is volatile, so postponing this purchase further will result in higher pricing," said Karen Marlow, the city's manager of purchasing.
"The industry for fire emergency vehicles has seen quarterly incremental increases applied based on market pricing.
"A market review of budgetary pricing in 2024 indicated escalating costs. An information report . . . indicated there would be savings if three pumper units were procured at the same time.
"Specifically, pricing would be reflected at the current year’s pricing, as opposed to purchasing apparatus separately each year."
"Further benefits of procuring three identical units include standardized parts, identical tooling for mechanical, and familiarity of equipment for staff doing maintenance and repairs," Marlow added.
The city is saving money on the fire truck deal by buying the vehicles through a local government buying group.
Taking advantage of the group's purchasing power, the Sault will get an 8.3 per cent discount of $154,332 per fire truck on base price.
An extra discount granted for the city's multiple-unit purchase.
"Staff will continue to work with vendors and buying groups to mitigate the impact of tariffs," Lamming said.
"If a contract is determined to be unaffordable, it will be reviewed for termination provisions. Some procurements have a limited vendor pool, making it difficult to seek alternative sources," he added.
Ward 4 Coun. Marchy Bruni enquired about Canadian content in the three purchased pumpers.
"Are they being built in British Columbia?" he asked, "because we're trying to promote buy and purchase and build in Ontario and Canada."
"The award went to a Canadian dealer," Fire Chief Peter Johnson responded.
"The chassis and cab will be imported from the States, and the rest of the completion of the bill would be finished in the Canadian factory," Johnson said.
"Are there any vendors in Canada that go from start to finish when they're building these pumper trucks?" Bruni asked.
"To our knowledge, there's no fire truck or fire apparatus manufacture in Canada that builds start to finish," the fire chief told him.
City council also authorized purchases last week of another $2.5 million worth of other equipment last week:
- a backhoe to be used for city cemetery operations will be bought from J.R. Brisson Equipment Ltee. for $159,724
- two 66,000 tandem plows for public works to be purchased from MS Truck Centre for $737,360
- one three-wheeled broom sweeper with a conveyor belt from FST Canada Inc. for $413,574
- one articulating wheeled loader from Brandt Tractor Ltd. for $630,867
- one waste handler crawler for the landfill from Brandt Tractor Ltd for $781,161