Newmarket resident Gloria Reszler said she felt upset after seeing a new sign in the corner of the Newmarket Staples location on Yonge Street.
Cubicles have been set up in a corner of the retail outlet, with a sign announcing a ServiceOntario location will open Feb. 1, offering services like licensing.
After using the current Newmarket ServiceOntario location on Yonge at Davis Drive for more than 15 years, she is unhappy about the change and wants to picket to bring attention to it.
“The opportunity should have been offered to a Canadian company, or at least (have) a transparent bidding process. I’m very much wanting to see our money, our taxpayer money, go into a local, or an Ontario or Canadian firm,” she said, adding praise for the customer service she has received at the longtime existing location. “I’ve had some quirky, shall we say, situations, and the staff have been able to answer it.”
Newmarket is one of several towns expected to see their ServiceOntario locations pop up in Staples in the coming weeks. Although the province has not formally announced that the existing Newmarket location will close, a spokesperson did not deny it despite repeated inquiries from NewmarketToday. No signage at the current ServiceOntario site indicates it will close, or that the Staples site is about to open.
“Factors were considered when our government conducted lengthy consultations with retail partners on the pilot, including the size of stores, parking availability, number of locations across Ontario, and willingness to participate,” the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery said earlier this month. “Staples Canada was selected as all locations met this criteria, and customers will be able to benefit from a 30 per cent improvement to current service accessibility hours.”
The ministry has also said current employees will be provided opportunities for employment with Staples.
A Staples manager in Newmarket redirected the inquiry to head office communications, which did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Reszler said the existing ServiceOntario location does have an issue with limited space when customers are lined up, but added, “I have never really minded personally waiting in line to speak to a really experienced person,” she said.
She added she is unsure of what using the Staples location might be like, noting the sensitive information accessed through ServiceOntario’s systems.
Opposition parties have criticized the government over the ServiceOntario situation, citing the apparent lack of an open bidding process.
“These sole-source contracts are just another example of the desperate and shady practices taken by this scandal-plagued government,” Ontario Liberal Party leader Bonnie Crombie said in a news release last week.
Staples Canada is owned by U.S. investment firm Sycamore Partners. Once a U.S. subsidiary, Staples Canada was split to become independently managed in 2017.
