City hall will not provide Ukrainian refugees with discounted bus passes because municipal officials say it would be unfair to other refugees, transit is already subsidized, and the city would lose revenue.
During its Aug. 22 regular meeting, city council voted unanimously to receive and file the report that city administration presented about possibly discounting transit passes.
Resident Steve Hrynkiw — who has taken in a Ukrainian refugee family — wrote a letter to city hall on July 11 asking the municipality to provide free or discounted passes to such refugees moving here, a council report explained. Specifically, he wanted the city to provide free bus passes for three months, followed by discounted passes of $25 for the next nine months.
“As the buses run no matter what, I thought it would be great to help these young families, or any refugee family from any country, (because it’s) a cheap way to get around the city and explore what it has to offer,” he wrote.
Many residents in Ukraine and Europe don’t have a driver’s licence since so few drive, while the cost for refugee families to purchase a family transit pass here is almost equivalent to one month’s salary in Ukraine, Hrynkiw continued. He thought Moose Jaw should be progressive and give newcomers a break on transit — and a map to get around.
“And maybe we can break the mould of being a city where you need a licence to get around … ,” he added.
Darrin Stephanson, director of public works and utilities, told council that “the meat of this discussion” is the financial implications, which would see an annual revenue loss of $735 per adult customer and $550 per student customer.
The current monthly cost for each pass is $80 and $65, respectively.
City hall already offers discounted transit passes of $50, while the Ministry of Social Services subsidizes the rate even further for people enrolled in one of four programs, reducing the cost to $25, he said. Therefore, it’s unlikely the new refugees would qualify for those programs.
“Providing discounts to refugees from just one geographic location would be viewed as unfair to the rest of the refugees to Canada,” said Stephanson. “If council considers this program, it should be made available to refugees from all countries.”
Moose Jaw transit is a subsidized service that has suffered service cuts due to low revenue and a lack of ridership, he added. While this pass discount might increase ridership, it would lead to lost revenue without cost increases.
Besides the option to deny the request, other recommendations from Stephanson included offering the discount to Ukrainian refugees only and offering the discount to all refugees.
Coun. Doug Blanc pointed out that the second option doesn’t allow the city to know how much it could lose in revenue since it won’t know how many passes could be sold. He also noted that it would be difficult to determine between a new refugee and someone who has lived in Canada for years.
“I’m not opposed to an increase in ridership, but I don’t know if selecting one group of people would be the right way,” he added. “My personal preference would be for everyone (to receive a bus pass).”
City hall has no information to determine how many people would “avail themselves of this” discounted pass, agreed Stephanson, noting recent refugees might have already purchased bus passes, which would force city hall to issue refunds.
Meanwhile, city hall could determine the refugees’ status — and their eligibility for a pass — by reviewing the temporary visas the federal government issues them when they come, he added.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Sept. 12.
