Olivia Chow, MP

NTS: Olivia Tables Transit Petitions in the House

More Than 4,000 Signatures Collected for National Transit Strategy

June 13, 2012

OTTAWA – Canadians are tired of waiting for buses and being stuck in traffic. That’s why hundreds of petitioners are calling for a National Transit Strategy. Olivia is making their voices heard by presenting their petitions in Parliament.

Their demand: We need federal help, federal funding to get Canadians the 21st-century public transit they deserve.

Transcript:

Ms. Olivia Chow (Trinity—Spadina, NDP): 

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions.

The first petition is from petitioners calling on the federal government to enact a national public transit strategy. Their reason behind this is because Canada is the only OECD country that does not have a national public transit strategy. It is estimated that over the next five years, there will be an $18 billion gap in transit infrastructure needs.

The petitioners are calling for a transit strategy that would provide a permanent investment plan to support public transit that is fast, reliable, accessible and affordable. They are calling for different levels of government to work together to provide sustainable, predictable, long-term and adequate funding for public transit. They also call for accountability measures to ensure that all governments work together to increase access to public transit.