Who dropped the bigger F-Bomb?

A minor controversy erupted last week when Winnipeg Centre MP Pat Martin dropped a few “F-bombs” on Twitter to vent his frustration with the federal government’s attempt to limit debate on a budget bill.

“This is a f--king disgrace,” Martin said. And in response to someone who criticized his choice of words, he issued a blunt “f--k you.” That’s not exactly parliamentary language, but it’s not out of character for the animated, straight-talking Martin.

Unfortunately, it also wasn’t out of character for city council to drop its own F-bomb last week — in this case, a fare bomb — on unsuspecting transit users.

To recap, council was asked to approve a five-cent increase in the basic transit fare. Winnipeg Transit had produced a report, it was debated at multiple committees and the public had the chance to give feedback. That’s standard council procedure.

But at the last minute, Coun. Justin Swandel suggested bumping up fares by 25 cents instead (to $2.65 a ride), saying the city needs more money to pay for expansion of the rapid transit system.

Coun. Swandel is right, the city does need to figure out how to pay for its share of transit improvements that will cost at least $700 million over the next 20 years. But dropping a surcharge on transit users with no notice and no analysis is not the way to do it.

How much extra revenue will this raise? What impact will it have on ridership? How do riders feel about the rate hike? No one knows, as the increase was proposed and passed in a matter of hours.

There was also no consideration of alternate methods of funding rapid transit. Would a civic tax on parking spaces be more effective? Could the city reallocate money it planned to spend on road expansions? What about property-tax revenue from new developments along the transit lines?

We could have had answers to all these questions if council had simply passed the five-cent increase last week, and asked for an administration report on options to pay for rapid transit. That would have allowed transit experts an opportunity to crunch the numbers, and the public a chance to have their say.

Pat Martin dropped an F-bomb to complain about the federal government not following process. By making up fare policy on the fly, city council sent the same message to transit users.