Mayors push for federal transit funding

Plan might have prevented Ottawa's light rail demise

Last Updated: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 | 11:43 AM ET

CBC News

Canada is the only western nation that doesn't guarantee urban transit funding from its top level of government, says a group representing the country's major urban centres.

'When you have that kind of funding, you can make decisions... based on your needs as a city rather than having to negotiate project by project with the federal and provincial governments, which depends on their political priorities.'-Toronto Mayor David Miller

A guaranteed portion of Canada's gas tax earmarked for transit would help cities run their transit systems properly and would "fit very nicely with the federal government's new environmental agenda," said Toronto Mayor David Miller Tuesday on behalf of the big city mayors caucus of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

"We can't expand our transit system and in the case of a lot of major cities, we can't even afford what we have now without substantial funding from other orders of government," said Miller, adding that increasing transit use would decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

A national transit plan would also prevent long-term projects such as Ottawa's north-south light rail line — cancelled after years of planning and funding negotiations — from falling victim to short-term political manoeuvres, he said.

"When you have that kind of funding, you can make decisions as a city about where the expansion should go based on your needs as a city rather than having to negotiate project by project with the federal and provincial governments, which depends on their political priorities."

Miller said the big city mayors caucus, which includes Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Montreal, Halifax and 17 other large urban centres, will discuss its national transit plan proposal at a meeting in Ottawa in early February.

The group has pushed for a national transit plan before. But after a recent cabinet shuffle, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he recognized the government needs "to do more on the environment," suggesting he may be more receptive to the idea now.

In December Ottawa's new city council cancelled the light rail project approved by the previous council in July. Treasury Board President John Baird had withheld $200 million in federal money for the project until after the Nov. 13 election to give the new council a chance to vote on the project. Baird replaced Rona Ambrose as environment minister on Jan. 4.