The mayors of Montreal’s 15 suburban cities are at a public transit loggerhead with Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante.
The suburban mayors want an opt-out clause to Plante’s recent proposal, which would offer reduced mass transit fares to low-income earners or people on fixed incomes.
The mayors don’t oppose the plan but insist the priority should be on improving public transit.
“Let’s increase that service and then we can talk about other priorities,” Montreal West Mayor Beny Masella told Global News.
Masella insists that offering reduced fares should be an initiative coming from the Quebec government, not a municipal body.
“The provincial government should be implicated in this. It shouldn’t be municipalities that are trying to redistribute the wealth,” he said.
Plante got the idea to offer reduced fares to low-income earners from the City of Calgary.
But the suburban mayors fear Plante’s plan would be forced on all municipalities on the island and, perhaps, greater Montreal.
Beaconsfield already offers a dozen free STM bus tickets to low-income earners.
Mayor Georges Bourelle says an opt-out clause should be offered.
“If Montreal, in fact, has a particular need for the City of Montreal, well, we shouldn’t be all put together in the same boat,” he said.
A spokesperson from Plante’s office told Global News she wasn’t available to comment.
The agency that sets public transit rates for greater Montreal told Global News the issue will be studied next year.
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