Delivering fast, affordable, and reliable public transit also requires rebuilding Canada’s public transit manufacturing capacity. Right now, transit agencies are struggling to replace aging fleets fast enough, even as ridership grows and service demands increase. Our campaign will: reject public-private partnerships for federally funded transit reform procurement to speed delivery, and invest directly in expanding Canadian-owned bus manufacturing plants. -Build the buses we need, here at home - with unionized labour and Canadian steel and other materials. This requires firm new procurement requirements and labour standards for projects receiving federal support. This is essential. Federally-funded projects should be a model for good working conditions and workers’ rights. That’s why we’ve been clear that there should be no federal supports without decent labour standards, including union membership, mandated safety programs, and apprenticeship training.

-Deliver these projects using traditional public financing methods, no public-private partnerships that end up funnelling taxpayer money into the coffers of consultants. And we will establish binding requirements for procurement from Canadian and Indigenous-owned businesses. Our campaign believes that the federal government has a critical role to play, working with the provinces and municipalities to ensure the safety of transit workers and riders across the country. This includes dedicated funding for infrastructure improvements that make vehicles and stops safer. It also means action to: -Pass a Transit Worker & Pedestrian Protection Act, as proposed by the Amalgamated Transit Union Canada. The Act would require transit agencies to develop “bus and rail operations safety risk reduction programs” to prevent assaults on transit workers, reduce the number of bus accidents due to blind spots, and make changes to bus drivers’ workstations to reduce ergonomic injuries.

-Invest in fare-free transit. This will eliminate fare disputes that can escalate and turn violent. In addition, our campaign’s commitment to a major expansion of mental health care services and supportive housing will address some of the root causes that lead to unsafe situations on buses and other transit vehicles. It’s time for federal leadership to re-link our country with public, inter-city transit. The abandonment by Greyhound of the prairies is a classic case of market failure. We cannot leave such an essential service, one that people rely on for everything from family visits to cancer treatments, in the hands of corporations that will up and leave when the routes are no longer profitable. This is a matter of justice, one that the National Inquiry highlighted as vital to addressing the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people. Our campaign is committed to using the power of public ownership to provide a comfortable and reliable electric bus service connecting rural communities and big cities on every Highway of Tears in this land.

Finally, improving our national rail system is a key component of our Canadian Green New Deal. Imagine it: accessible, affordable and comfortable public high-speed rail that makes flying to neighbouring provinces a waste of time and money. And in the short term, we need to electrify existing rail, and reintroduce Taylor Bachrach’s bill, which would give passenger rail priority on our tracks. Polling shows that 2/3 of Canadians support expanding high-speed rail. With our history in rail, we could easily be a global leader in this industry. The key to all of these necessary changes, from the specific to the aspirational, is public ownership. The market is not going to fix problems in public transit that the market mindset has created. A national public transportation strategy worthy of the name is a true nation-rebuilding project.