Thunder Bay Transit to keep city hall terminal

The debate lasted longer than a ride on the Mainline from Current River to Westfort, but city councillors in Thunder Bay decided to make city hall the permanent hub for transit in the south core.

The meeting started off with a bit of bluster, when Mayor Keith Hobbs told Councillor Aldo Ruberto he would have to follow procedure, and wait until the proper time to make a proposal for the transit terminal.

"Don't start," Mayor Hobbs said. "I'm tired tonight."

The jabs continued throughout the meeting, as Councillor Joe Virdiramo poked back at Coun. Shelby Ch'ng who had said the decision on Monday night could be made by being "an elected official" or by "a politician."

Virdiramo called an amendment made by Ch'ng something you get from 'an elected official.'

Ch'ng said it wasn't fair to tell anybody the decision on Monday would be temporary in nature.

"We can keep asking the same question over and over again, and it becomes our own version of the Quebec referendum. It's, I'm not sitting here to lie to constituents and tell them it's going to be temporary when it's not going to be temporary. This is permanent."

But, it was that admittance that the decision would make the terminal permanent that irked Coun. Aldo Ruberto.

He said that the city originally said in 2010 that the terminal would be at city hall for only a short period of time.

"I'll be voting against it. For many reasons. If it was temporary, I'd certainly support it, as a temporary location. But, you're saying permanent."

The actual concerns raised by councillors had been brought up before, which included security, safety and cleanliness of the area. Coun. Linda Rydholm proposed two amendments, including ensuring extra security was on hand at city hall, and deploying additional staff to ensure garbage is cleaned up in the neighbourhood surrounding city hall.

Only the first amendment involving security passed.

Mayor Keith Hobbs noted the plan was best for transit riders, as well as the city's pocketbook.

"Our management have done this on their own. We haven't had to pay any consultants. Wow. It's a homegrown idea. The unions support it. When do unions and management ever support each other."

The final vote was 7-4 in favour of keeping the terminal at city hall. Councillors Brian McKinnon, Aldo Ruberto, Larry Hebert and Joe Virdiramo voted against the proposal.