Is Justin Trudeau doing worse by transit systems than Donald Trump?

 

Canada’s largest transit union is accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of doing less for the industry than U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Public transit is in crisis and the Trudeau government is watching it fall apart,” John Di Nino, president of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Canada, said in a news release.

“The government is ignoring that transit systems are moving a million people a day. Many of them are front-line workers. It’s time Justin Trudeau explained to them why Donald Trump is supporting transit more than he is. They deserve better and transit workers who face danger every day deserve better,” he continued.

According to Di Nino, transit workers are now being laid off, after weeks of putting themselves in danger to keep communities functioning.

Additionally, Di Nino was critical of the government’s inaction regarding emergency financial relief, something transit unions requested weeks ago, which has resulted in many systems being pushed to the financial brink.

Further, Di Nino is calling on the Government to provide municipalities with funding to be exclusively used for transit systems immediately, otherwise many systems will be forced into insolvency.

“The shutdown of transit is a national emergency that requires emergency funding. We can’t be laying off critical transit workers. If Donald Trump can help, Justin Trudeau can deliver the $5 billion relief transit systems and their riders need,” Di Nino said.

“Justin Trudeau can stop the shutdown of transit right now. And if not, he can explain to the million riders a day why he’s the Prime Minister who killed public transit in Canada,” he added.

Di Nino believes Canada’s response is significantly worse than that of the U.S. and Britain—the U.S. has provided transit systems with $25 billion in emergency aid, while Britain has provided its systems with PS400 million.

“Donald Trump gets it. Boris Johnson gets it. The Hong Kong government cracking down on democracy protests gets it. When will Justin Trudeau get it, too?” Di Nino said.