One of the big policy issues of the 2022 municipal election campaign has become the first major flashpoint between the perceived frontrunners for mayor.
During a debate on the environment in Kanata Tuesday night, other candidates challenged Coun. Catherine McKenney on the issue of free transit.
“I have never promised free transit for everyone. That has never come out of my mouth,” McKenney said during the debate, which prompted criticism from their opponents.
“Why would Catherine McKenney support a million dollar study for something they now say they do not support?” said Mark Sutcliffe in a news release Wednesday morning.
“Why are they now misleading Ottawa residents about where they stand on ‘free’ public transit?”
Former Ottawa mayor Bob Chiarelli also took shots at McKenney on social media Tuesday night.
“Tonight in the heart of suburbia in Kanata sensing that message wouldn't go over well, they said free transit is not part of their platform. Guessing they got an earful at the door out here,” he said on Twitter.
Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA, Sutcliffe called on McKenney to clarify their position.
“I think people have a right to know where Catherine McKenney stands on this,” Sutcliffe said. “I don’t understand why Catherine is backing away from this idea of fare-free transit when they have supported it so consistently over the past few months.”
McKenney has been in favour of fare-free transit as a councillor. They wrote a column in April headlined ‘The case for fare-free transit’ in which they argued that reducing user fees would encourage more people to choose public transit.
“One way of encouraging transit use is to reduce significantly and eventually remove user fees, that is, transit fares which we currently demand of riders. Fare-free transit is being tried in many cities around the world,” they wrote.
“In a nutshell, you cannot have a healthy, connected and equitable city without transit that everyone can afford to take and that meets them where they are and takes them where they want to go.”
McKenney has spoken on social media in favour of wider fare-free transit as a “change we need.”
However, their campaign website does not use the word “free” when referring to public transit.
Under the priority titled ‘The most connected city—with the transit we need’ it says, “People in Ottawa deserve a reliable transit system—regardless of where we live. And we need to make our transit as affordable as possible to reduce congestion and everyone’s commute times.”
McKenney spoke on CFRA’s ‘Ottawa Now’ Wednesday and said they want to see transit fares eliminated in Ottawa eventually, but clarified that it is a long-term goal.
“I have never, ever said that overnight in my platform, coming in as mayor, I would bring in free transit,” they said. “It’s fear mongering; it’s kind of the same excuses that Mayor Watson has always thrown out and I think that the public deserves a better discussion on this.”
City council had requested an estimate on the cost of studying how to change the fare structure for OC Transpo, including a model in which OC Transpo is free for riders, paid for through property taxes. Studying the plans in full could cost nearly $1 million, and staff say a fare-free model would add $482 per year to the average homeowner’s property tax bill.
Both Sutcliffe and Chiarelli have said they’re opposed to eliminating fares, citing the increase in property taxes.
Sutcliffe told CFRA that he is supportive of looking at ways to reduce fares and supports programs such as the Equi-pass, but he believes transit reliability is a bigger issue.
“The critical thing is we need to fix transit. That’s how we’ll get more people using it,” he said. “Adding to people’s property tax bills when they don’t get good bus service is not fair.”
McKenney said their ultimate goal would be to move toward free transit, but didn’t offer a concrete timeline. They said their transit platform would be released in the coming weeks and it would be “very clear” on their priorities and the costs.
McKenney also explained that property taxpayers should not shoulder the full cost and it would require the help of other levels of government.
“I don’t believe that residents of this city, through their property taxes, can afford entirely free transit, but I do believe that the provincial government, our federal government, are starting to think about it and we can work with them toward free and deeply affordable transit,” they said.
“It’s not an easy goal to move towards, but it’s one that we have to have. It’s too simplistic to say it’s too expensive, it can’t happen, it’ll never happen.”
McKenney cited the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as a reason for needing to encourage more transit use, but also propsed there could savings in areas such as road widening and road maintenance if fewer personal cars were on the roads.
A monthly transit pass user pays $1,506 for 12 months of transit service at the current adult fare, though there are lower-cost passes for seniors, students, and low-income residents.
The municipal election is Oct. 24. There are 14 candidates running for mayor. Jim Watson is not seeking re-election.
