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April 1, 2021
The Honourable Caroline Mulroney
Minister of Transportation
Dear Minister Mulroney,
On behalf of our 1,500 transit worker members in Ontario, we are asking that the government work with your federal counterparts and extend the Safe Restart Agreement that recently expired at the end of March. This emergency funding has played a critical role in ensuring continued operations of municipal transit systems during the pandemic and without its continuation, transit operations, jobs and those relying most on transit services, will be put needlessly at risk.
The Safe Restart Agreement has been a lifeline for municipal governments and transit agencies that have seen significant revenue shortfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The $4 billion in Ontario funding has helped to reduce the likelihood of severe programs and services cuts at the municipal level and provided much needed support for transit agencies to continue maintaining transit services, routes and transit jobs. We were also pleased with the provincial government’s announcement of an additional $150 million earmarked specifically for transit relief. For our transit worker members who have been on the frontlines of this pandemic since day one, this critical injection of funds has allowed them to continue serving their communities by transporting essential workers safely to their workplaces and homes.
While we applaud the government for their investments and for recognizing the critical role that transit plays in our communities, the recent expiration of the Safe Restart Agreement funding is concerning – especially as COVID-19 cases continues to rise and as Ontario enters another month of lockdown.
It is clear that this pandemic is far from over and we will need to ensure continued reliable transit operations so that essential workers can continue getting to work and protect our economy from further decline. We, therefore, request that the Safe Restart Agreement be renewed and extended for an additional year (at minimum) so that stable funding can be accessed by those jurisdictions that need it the most. Further, we would like to reiterate our position that any access to funding be free from conditions that require municipalities and transit agencies to further privatize and contract out routes using microtransit or ‘On Demand’ options. These actions require thorough study and consultation with key stakeholders to determine the long-term impacts that these type of services will have on transit operations, transit users, accessibility, service-levels and on workers.
We thank you again for making transit a key priority and hope that our communities across the province can rely on you on for ensuring that we keep Ontarians moving during these challenging times. Please feel free to contact us if you wish to discuss these matters in further detail.
Sincerely,
Naureen Rizvi
Unifor Ontario Regional Director
