(UPDATE: May 2 at 5 am): The Alberta government is reversing its plan to axe a subsidy program that helps low-income people pay for transit passes.
Social Services Minister Jason Nixon said the mayors of Edmonton and Calgary have made it clear the money is critical.
"The province does not want to see the low-income transit program in our two largest cities go anywhere," Nixon told reporters Wednesday.
“We will make sure that we're there to support (the passes) if that's what's needed.”
The total provincial subsidy for low-income transit programs for all municipalities is $16 million.
"We'll have to look elsewhere within our budget to be able to (fund the passes and) meet our targets," said Nixon.
The announcement came a day after Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek and her Edmonton counterpart, Amarjeet Sohi, publicly criticized the province for axing the programs, which contribute $12 million to their cities.
Nixon stressed the transit pass program was a pilot project, and said he was unaware department officials had met with the two cities earlier this week to discuss it.
Gondek said she's happy to see the money restored, adding that many Calgarians were shocked and concerned by news the program could be gone.
"The fact that (Nixon) stepped in so swiftly and rectified the situation is good," said Gondek.
"Any decision, whether it's made by an elected official or administration, to cut funding to people who are desperately in need of our help and supports is a bad decision.
“Better communication would be recommended all around.”
Sohi said the program is essential to Edmontonians, especially those who face daily challenges with affordability, mobility and isolation.
"I appreciate that Minister Nixon recognizes the negative impact that defunding this program will have and is reinstating funding at last year's level," Sohi said in a statement.
Calgary issued more than 119,000 low-income transit passes in the first three months of this year.
In Edmonton, 25,000 residents rely on the program every month to access transit, and demand in both cities is growing.
Lorne Dach, transportation critic for the Opposition NDP, said Albertans were rightfully outraged that the program was on the chopping block.
"To threaten the cancellation of this program during an affordability crisis shows how out of touch the Smith government is with Albertans," Dach said in a statement.
(Original story: May 1 at 5:01 am): The mayors of Alberta's two biggest cities say the province has pulled at least $12 million in funding meant to help low-income residents access public transit.
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the move is an insult to Calgarians already struggling to get by.
“I am appalled,” Gondek said Tuesday in a statement.
She said demand for the program had only been growing.
The Calgary program works on a sliding scale with those most in need paying as little as $5.80 a month for a transit pass.
A regular adult monthly pass, by comparison, costs $115.
Gondek said the city saw more than 119,000 low-income passes issued in the first three months of this year to aid those living below the poverty line.
Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said the end of the provincial subsidy will make life more expensive for 25,000 residents every month, including students and seniors.
“At a time when Edmontonians are struggling to afford their basic needs and demand for this program has increased 150 per cent since 2016, the decision to defund this program in Edmonton and Calgary shows that the province’s priorities are in the wrong place,” Sohi said in a statement.
The change comes seven months after Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative government announced it had expanded support for the low-income transit pass, with programs in 10 other cities, to combat the rising cost of living.
At the time, it said it had allocated $14 million in annual funding for the program, including $6 million each for Edmonton and Calgary.
In a statement to The Canadian Press, Alexandru Cioban, spokesperson for Social Services Minister Jason Nixon, declined to answer why the funding is being shuffled, but said $5 million is now going to support transportation programs for low-income Albertans in rural communities.
"As transit is a municipal responsibility in the two big cities, we are investing more in core services delivered by the province like homelessness and housing," he said.
Lorne Dach, the transportation critic for Alberta’s Opposition NDP, called the UCP’s decision “extremely cruel."
“Municipalities are already grappling with insufficient funding from the province, and now the UCP is downloading further responsibility onto them by callously ripping funding away from services that assist low-income Albertans to access transit,” Dach said.
Gondek and Dach said the decision shows the province has misplaced priorities given Smith announced on Monday a $9-million commitment to develop a 15-year plan to build a provincewide rail system.
“Smith doesn’t seem concerned if Albertans can afford to take the bus to get to their jobs or access health care, so long as she can put her name on a rail plan that may or may not materialize by the year 2039,” Dach said.
