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Ottawa Needs to Make Specific Commitment to Public Transit: Advocates

Posted on: Monday, 6 November 2006, 18:01 CST

By GREGORY BONNELL

TORONTO (CP) - The federal government needs to make clear how much of its infrastructure funding has been earmarked for public transit before Canadian cities can go ahead with much-needed transit expansion, advocates warn.

Participants at the Canadian Urban Transit Association's fall conference applauded Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on Monday for recognizing Ottawa has responsibilities to honour on the transit file.

Still, many said they became worried when Flaherty spoke of traditional infrastructure priorities such as roads, bridges and highways in the same breath as public transit during his speech to open the conference.

"Our challenge is . . . making sure that there is a commitment to carving out a piece of that infrastructure (funding that is) specific for transit," association president Michael Roschlau said following Flaherty's address.

"I would have liked the minister to use the word transit a few more times that he did... what was positive was his recognition that public transit is a federal responsibility."

In September, Ottawa delivered some $900 million to the provinces for public transit, $351 million for Ontario alone, Flaherty told the conference.

Overall, the federal government has budgeted $16.5 billion in new infrastructure initiatives over the next four years.

"Clearly, the dollars are very substantial and the commitment is genuine," said Flaherty, who came out strongly in favour of public transit as a key economic advantage for Canada.

The issue among the delegates wasn't so much those funding allocations but the lack of assurance from Ottawa that dollars would continue to flow, said Roschlau.

"All that we've had so far is temporary - we've had a fund here, a fund there . . . but nothing beyond that," he said.

"Public transit is a long-term investment... the transit systems need to be able to plan for the long term, have that assurance that the funding, the investment is going to be there."

While Flaherty agreed that the "current piecemeal approach" was no longer sustainable, he said he made his comments in regard to "transportation infrastructure" as a whole.

That raised alarm bells for Toronto Transit Commission chairman Howard Moscoe.

"I'm afraid that that money will get frittered away on asphalt in Alberta," Moscoe said. "As long as the government talks in general terms about infrastructure, rather than about public transit infrastructure, we have a fight on our hands."

While Moscoe hinted at a discord between cities and the federal government, reporters pressed Flaherty about Ontario's ongoing battle to wrest more funds from federal coffers.

"Well, Ontario is seeing the money coming as they expected," said Flaherty, who added the real challenge is to focus on infrastructure projects in the province that are of national importance.

"In Ontario... we have very substantial issues in the (Greater Toronto Area), and at Fort Erie at the border, and at, of course, Windsor-Detroit - all of which need to be addressed," he said.

Source: Canadian Press

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