And they're off — mayoral contenders spar over fare-free transit

The municipal election is still seven weeks away, and already some of the key mayoral candidates are mixing it up on the campaign trail — an indication this could be the most combative race in more than a decade.

Campaigns don't usually ramp up significantly until after Labour Day, but last week, Mark Sutcliffe accused Catherine McKenney of misleading voters and "flip-flopping" about their position on fare-free transit.

But the outgoing Somerset councillor says they've done no such thing, arguing they've never planned to eliminate transit fares overnight and has told local media that Sutcliffe is "fear-mongering."

The sparring stemmed from a debate on the environment organized by the Community Associations for Environmental Sustainability (CAFE) in Kanata last week (there's another in Orléans on Wednesday).

In that debate, candidate Ade Olumide said considering McKenney was in favour of "free transit for all," he wanted to know by how much McKenney (who uses the pronouns they/them) would raise taxes. 

McKenney came back and said "that has never come out of my mouth."

Later in that same debate, Sutcliffe — a longtime broadcaster and businessman — brought the topic up again, pointing to articles McKenney has written on the topic in which they support fare-free transit. 

"We do have to move towards free transit, every city around the world will do so," McKenney responded. "But I am not suggesting that the taxpayer in this city will have to support free transit and it will not be part of my platform."

But then Sutcliffe's campaign doubled down with two news releases to the media in the days following last Tuesday's debate.

That included a link to an article McKenney wrote for a downtown community newspaper where they make the case for fare-free transit, including the point that a city would need less money for roads if more people took transit.

McKenney also states in the article that "one way of encouraging transit use is to reduce significantly and eventually remove user fees."

When asked about the style of those news releases and if it's indicative of the what the tone of this campaign will be, Sutcliffe said that he is willing to work with everyone, but he thinks it's fair to challenge opponents. 

"People have been attacking me since the day I registered to be a candidate. So we're going to be challenged during this campaign. People are going to ask us where we stand on the issues," he said.

"All I'm doing is trying to make it clear to people that Catherine has spoken out in favour of fare-free transit in the past and so we need to know where they stand on that issue."

When asked about the news releases accusing them of "flip-flopping," McKenney said they "will continue to run just a positive campaign based on, you know, my ideas for making Ottawa a better city.

"If people feel that they want to challenge me, I'm happy to respond."

What are the stances?

McKenney reiterated that they have never promised a sweeping move to fare-free transit for everyone at once.

"I've always been very clear that I support us moving toward free transit," they said, arguing it is a public service like city libraries.

"There was a time when there was a cost to enter a library, we would never consider that today," they said. 

But they added they've "always said it will not be done overnight, it can't be done immediately and it certainly cannot be done on the property tax base alone."  

McKenney said they will be revealing their plan for transit very soon and that it will outline a clear path to make Ottawa's transit system affordable and efficient, but wouldn't share many details of that plan.

They've scheduled an announcement Tuesday morning.

"We have to work with, you know, federal, provincial governments as partners in advancing their goals for climate action and, you know, safe transportation and changes around how we move about the city. I believe that over time we can get there."

McKenney said they do not want to raise fees any more, as it only deters ridership, and they want to look at the cost of fare generation and how cutting those costs could help to bring the city to fare-free transit eventually. 

Other candidates knock the idea of free fares.

Sutcliffe pulled no punches with his thoughts on a fare-free transit system. 

"There is no such thing as free transit," he said. "Obviously, we have to pay for the public transit system one way or another. And if the people who are using public transit aren't paying for it, then taxpayers have to." 

Sutcliffe said he wants to concentrate more on improving the system so it works better for everyone by extending the rail lines further into the suburbs and improving bus service there.

He is also committed to making rides more affordable. 

"I do think we need to look at where the fares are, make sure they're aligned with what people can afford to pay," he said.

"I'm not in favour of jacking up transit fees and having annual increases that puts transit beyond people's reach, because we do want people using the system."

Bob Chiarelli was not available for an interview Sunday but sent a statement.

"I am opposed to the notion of free transit," he said adding that he feels it will add to residential taxes. He also pointed to the discounted programs such as the Community Pass and discounts for seniors, children and post-secondary students. 

"I am prepared to adjust these discounts further, but a wholesale dump on the taxpayer is unaffordable," the statement said. 

Chiarelli went on to say that the possibility of many public servants continuing to work from home means "some serious decisions need to be made about what the future transit network looks like in this city."

He has pledged a 100-day review of OC Transpo's operations in order to find efficiencies. 

Other candidates that CBC spoke to share the feeling that fare-free transit isn't realistic right now, but support making OC Transpo more affordable.

Graham MacDonald wants to work with the province in order to decrease fares across the board, but said he is not in favour of putting the cost on taxpayers. 

Param Singh had a similar idea, that the service needs to be revisited and made more affordable, though he said zero fares could be possible sometime in the future. He believes in making the system more affordable, again by working with other levels of government. 

Nour Kadri wants to launch a pilot project that offers free-fare routes in under-served communities and populations, such as seniors, in order to try to transition to funding transit through other forms of revenue, like having digital ads on transit. 

In an email, Mike McGuire said he would not be increasing fares for at least a year and would bring back some key routes that have been cancelled, paying for it from "the expected 2023 budgetary surplus." He is against tax increases to support transit operations.