Public transit is essential in Ottawa and it needs permanent federal funding
Published in the Ottawa Citizen on November 17th, 2020
If we have learned anything as a city during this pandemic, we now understand that running a transit system is an absolute necessity, even when it hurts our budget. Transit must be there for everyone. Even during COVID-19, transit has been a must for our many essential workers in hospitals, long-term care homes and even grocery stores. We also need to remind ourselves that transit is the solution in getting greenhouse gas levels down. We cannot have a functioning city without transit.
It’s been nine months since the lockdown began and those who can have been asked to work from home. In a public-service town like Ottawa, this is a huge proportion of workers, not to mention those in hi-tech who can work from home as well. The buses are looking very empty these days; however, there are still people who need to get to work, and chances are they don’t work in an office. We applaud these workers as we continue to operate a fully functioning transit system to ensure everyone stays healthy and safe.
I’m happy to share that my motion passed at Committee on November 18th asking the Mayor to write a letter to the Federal Government requesting that they provide consistent funding for transit.
